APHESIS - Definition

Pronunciation:		'afisis
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WordNet Dictionary

	Definition:	[n] the gradual disappearance of an initial (usually unstressed) vowel or syllable as in `squire' for `esquire'

	See Also:	deletion, omission

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Aph"e*sis\, n. [Gr. ? a letting go; ? + ? to let go.] The loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word; -- the result of a phonetic process; as, squire for esquire. --New Eng. Dict.