elision means the deliberate omission of something. It carries an Arena rating of 1526, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, elision ranks #918 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,221 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,302 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,266 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
elision is pronounced /ɪˈlɪʒ.(ə)n̩/.
Why “elision” is a great word
The omission of a sound or syllable in speech or writing, often to improve euphony or efficiency. From the Latin ēlīsiō ("striking out, forcing out"), from ēlĭsus, past participle of ēlĭdō ("to knock out"), from ex- ("out") + laedō ("to strike, hurt"), first recorded in English 1575–85. Unlike syncope, which cuts from the middle, or apocope, which shears from the end, elision is the versatile art of disappearance. It is the swallowed ‘e’ in “ev’ry,” the collapsed space in “I’m,” the seamless merge where “the apple” becomes “th’apple”—the quiet, breath-saving compromises that let language flow, a small surrender to the physics of utterance.
Etymology
From Latin ēlīsiō (“striking out, forcing out”) (whence -ion (“noun suffix denoting action, result, process, state, condition”)), from ēlīsus (“knocked out, forced out”), past participle of ēlīdō (“to knock, dash or strike out”) (whence elide), from ex- (“out, away”) + laedō (“to strike, collide, hurt”) (whence e- (“assimilated form of ex-”)).
noun
- The deliberate omission of something.
- The omission of a letter or syllable between two words or inside a word; sometimes marked with an apostrophe.e.g.“See also: contraction, apheresis, apocope, syncope”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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