| aphesis |
| Definition: As defined by the OED editor
James Murray
(who coined the term): the "gradual and unintentional loss of a short
unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word." Note: Someday it will be called phesis. |
| Example: The word squire was derived from esquire and the word mend from amend by this process. |
| Etymology: It derives from the Greek aphienai, to send forth (from Greek apo, from + hienai, to send). |
| OED: The word's first OED citation is from 1880 (Murray citing himself): "The Editor
can think of nothing better than to call the phenomenon Aphesis. .. and the resulting forms Aphetic forms. " (J. A. H. Murray in Transactions of the Philological Society, 175) |