| haplology |
| Definition: When consecutive, duplicate, or similar syllables are contracted to make a word easier to pronounce. |
| Example: Pronouncing 'prob - ab - ly as 'prob - ly. Note: Many of the English's Greek-derived words have undergone this process (e.g., symbology from symbolology and idolatry from idololatry). |
| Etymology: The word was coined from the Greek haplos, simple or single + ology, study of. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term's first citation is from 1895: "The philosopher who coined symbolatry after idolatry (the latter […] changed by haplology.) (M. Bloomfield in Amer. Jrnl. Philol. XVI. 411) |