noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The suppression of a vowel at the end of word when it is followed by another word beginning with a vowel. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   The melding into a single syllable of two vowels from two different syllables. countable, uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek συναλοιφή (sunaloiphḗ, “a coalescing, confluence”) (< Ancient Greek συν- (sun-) + ἀλοιφή (aloiphḗ)).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.