syncope English · revision 1132

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|syncope]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|συγκοπή|tr=sunkopḗ|t=a cutting short]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''sunkóptein'' “to cut up, cut short”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[af|grc|συν-|κόπτω|tr1=sun-|tr2=kóptō|t1=together, thoroughly|t2=to strike, cut]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The medical sense came through Middle English ''sincopis'', ''sincopene'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and the spelling was re-Latinized in the 16th century.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[syncopate]].^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In medicine, a fainting or failure of the heart's action with loss of consciousness (about 1400).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline explains the medical sense as a sudden “cutting off” of consciousness.^(Etymonline) In grammar, the contraction of a word by dropping sounds from the middle is recorded from 1530.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In 17th-century music the word was also used for [[syncopation]] (1653).^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1400 – ''sincopis'', fainting.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1464 – ''sincopene''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1530 – the shortening of a word.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1653 – syncopation in music.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A brief loss of [[consciousness]] caused by too little blood reaching the brain; a [[faint]] or swoon.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The shortening of a word by omitting a sound, letter or syllable from its middle, as ''fo'c'sle'' for ''forecastle''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[syncopal]]

+ * [[syncopate]]

+ * [[syncopation]]

+ * [[unsyncopated]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[apocope]]

+ * [[capon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}