Aphesis Definition

ăfĭ-sĭs
apheses
noun
The loss of an initial, usually unstressed vowel from a word, as in cute from acute.
American Heritage
Loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word, a form of apheresis (Ex.: squire for esquire)
Webster's New World

(linguistics, prosody) The loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word.

The word "scarp" is derived from "escarp" by aphesis.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Aphesis

Noun

Singular:
aphesis
Plural:
apheses

Origin of Aphesis

  • From Ancient Greek ἄφεσις (áphesis, “letting go”), from ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) , from ἀπό (apó, “off”) + ἵημι (híēmi, “send forth”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Greek a release from aphīenai aphe- to let go apo- apo- hīenai to send diesis

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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