syncope

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin syncope,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek συγκοπή (sunkopḗ, “a cutting short”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from sunkóptein “to cut up, cut short”,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek συν- (sun-, “together, thoroughly”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “to strike, cut”).^[2][3][4][5] The medical sense came through Middle English sincopis, sincopene,^[2][3][4] and the spelling was re-Latinized in the 16th century.^[4] It is related to syncopate.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, a fainting or failure of the heart's action with loss of consciousness (about 1400).^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline explains the medical sense as a sudden “cutting off” of consciousness.^[4] In grammar, the contraction of a word by dropping sounds from the middle is recorded from 1530.^[3][4][7] In 17th-century music the word was also used for syncopation (1653).^[7][1]

Timeline

• about 1400 – sincopis, fainting.^[7][4]
• 1464 – sincopene.^[3]
• 1530 – the shortening of a word.^[3][7]
• 1653 – syncopation in music.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A brief loss of consciousness caused by too little blood reaching the brain; a faint or swoon.
2. The shortening of a word by omitting a sound, letter or syllable from its middle, as fo'c'sle for forecastle.

Word family

• syncopal
• syncopate
• syncopation
• unsyncopated

Related words

• apocope
• capon

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press