Aphaeretic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing the loss of an unstressed vowel or syllable from the beginning of a word, as in 'cause for because
2. Relating to aphaeresis, the dropping of the first sound or syllable of a word over the course of its history
3. Characterizing a word form that has lost its opening sound, such as 'bus from omnibus or 'til from until

Etymology: "Aphaeretic" describes a word that has lost its opening sound, as with "squire" from "esquire" or "round" from "around." The term comes from Ancient Greek "aphairetikos," meaning "fit for taking away," built from "aphairein," "to take away" or "to remove." The Greek root contains "apo," "away from," and "haireein," "to take," so the word's own meaning is a neat demonstration of its sense. Greek grammarians used the idea of removal in the same way, since aphaeresis was their name for dropping a letter or syllable from the beginning of a word. English borrowed the adjective from Greek, and the Oxford English Dictionary records it in the form "aphæretic." Its use is strictly technical, reserved for linguists describing this particular kind of sound change, so the word has never wandered far from its original purpose.