Note: Creating a new word by chopping off the initial letter or syllable of an existing word is called aphaeresis (which means “to take away”). This not-as-uncommon-as-you-might-think process was the source of words such as mend (a shortening of amend), spy (from espy), cute (from acute), and squire (from esquire).
Note: Creating a new word by chopping off the initial letter or syllable of an existing word is called aphaeresis (which means “to take away”). This not-as-uncommon-as-you-might-think process was the source of words such as mend (a shortening of amend), spy (from espy), cute (from acute), and squire (from esquire).