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Definition of Aphesis
1. Noun. The gradual disappearance of an initial (usually unstressed) vowel or syllable as in 'squire' for 'esquire'.
Definition of Aphesis
1. n. The loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word; -- the result of a phonetic process; as, squire for esquire.
Definition of Aphesis
1. Noun. (linguistics prosody) The loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Aphesis
1. the loss of an unstressed vowel from the beginning of a word [n -ESES] : APHETIC [adj]