Aphaeresis

//__Aphaeresis __//


 * Definition: ** **:** the loss of one or more sounds or letters at the beginning of a word

First Known Use: circa 1550
 * Origin:: **Late Latin, from Greek //aphairesis,// literally, taking off, from //aphairein// to take away, from //apo-// + //hairein// to take


 * See also:: **Aphesis

Definition taken from merriam-webster.com/dictionary


 * Examples ** from the text:

1) In the Red Headed League written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author describes a wheelbarrow of oranges as a "orange barrow".

> (Amy Poehler as Lesley Knope in "The Possum." //Parks and Recreation//, 2010)
 * Internet Examples**
 * "I can't kill the //possum// [for //opossum//], //'cause// [for //because//] it might be innocent. I can't let the //possum// go, because it might be guilty. Can't make a good soup, can't do a handstand in a pool. Can't spell the word 'lieutenant.' There are a lot of //cant's// in my life right now."

> (//The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories//, 1991) (examples take from grammar.about.com)
 * "**Aphaeresis** has given us a number of new words, like //drawing-room// (from //withdrawing-room//), //fend// (from //defend//; whence //fender//), //sport// (from //disport//), and //stain// (from //distain//). A number are aphetic in the narrow sense: //pert// (from now obsolete //apert//, going back ultimately to Latin //appertus// 'open'), //peal// (from //appeal//), //mend// (from //amend//), //fray// (from//affray//), the verb //ply// (from //apply//), the adjective //live// (from //alive//), //spy// (from //espy//), and //tend//(from both //attend// and //intend//). In the above cases, significant semantic development followed the aphaeresis, so that one does not normally connect in one's mind the shortened and the original longer forms."

(Abbi Alemayehu)