SYNCOPE

syncope, syncopation

(noun) (phonology) the loss of sounds from within a word (as in ‘fo’c’sle’ for ‘forecastle’)

faint, swoon, syncope, deliquium

(noun) a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

syncope (countable and uncountable, plural syncopes)

(linguistics, phonology, prosody) The loss or elision of a sound from the interior of a word, for example by changing cannot to can't, never to ne'er, or the pronunciation of the -cester ending in placenames as -ster (for example, Leicester pronounced Leister or Lester, and Worcester pronounced Wooster).

(pathology) A loss of consciousness when someone faints, a swoon.

(music) A missed beat or off-beat stress in music resulting in syncopation.

Usage notes

Usage in the form syncope, with the phonological meaning "contraction of a word by omission of middle sounds or letters" attested from the 1520's. Doublets of said syncope with the form syncopis and sincopin, both from the Old French sincopin (“faintness”) (itself from Late Latin accusative syncopen), with the pathological meaning "a loss of consciousness accompanied by a weak pulse", attested from the fifteenth century. Said syncopis/sincopin was "relatinized" to the form syncope in English in the sixteenth century, after the linguistic use of that word was already in use. The musical usage first occurs after the 1660's, following the musical usage of syncopation and syncopate.

Synonyms

• (swoon): faint, fainting, lipothymia

Hypernyms

• (prosody): metaplasm

Source: Wiktionary

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Syn"co*pe, n. Etym: [L. syncope, syncopa, Gr.

1. (Gram.)

Definition: An elision or retrenchment of one or more letters or syllables from the middle of a word; as, ne'er for never, ev'ry for every.

2. (Mus.)

Definition: Same as Syncopation.

3. (Med.)

Definition: A fainting, or swooning. See Fainting.

4. A pause or cessation; suspension. [R.] Revely, and dance, and show, Suffer a syncope and solemn pause. Cowper.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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