| clipping |
| Definition: The creating of new words by removing letters from existing words. |
| Example: The word gent was coined from the word gentleman by a process called back-clipping. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term's first OED citation is from 1933: "Slang delights to curtail (clip, abbreviate, shorten) words.… Many such clippings have passed into standard English, as with cab for cabriolet, bus for omnibus." (Partridge Slang To-day & Yesterday i. iii. 27) |