noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The insertion of one or more words between the components of a compound word. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

diacopediacopehysteron proteronmetastasispalindromeparenthesis

Etymology

From Late Latin tmēsis, from Ancient Greek τμῆσις (tmêsis, “a cutting”), from τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”). First attested in 1586.

Related phrases

compound word

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