apocopate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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apocopatesimple
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apocopatessimple
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have apocopatedperfect
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has apocopatedperfect
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am apocopatingprogressive
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are apocopatingprogressive
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is apocopatingprogressive
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have been apocopatingperfect progressive
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has been apocopatingperfect progressive
Past
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apocopatedsimple
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had apocopatedperfect
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was apocopatingprogressive
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were apocopatingprogressive
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had been apocopatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of apocopate
1850–55; v. use of apocopate (adj.) curtailed, docked. See apocope, -ate 1
Explanation
To apocopate is to shorten a word by cutting off its ending. We often apocopate the word photograph to photo and the word rhinoceros to rhino. Apocopate is a linguistic term whose parent word is the noun apocope, "the abbreviation of a word by omitting the final sound or sounds." Both words are derived from the Greek word apokoptein, meaning "to cut off." When you apocopate a word, you omit its final sound, letter, or one or more of its syllables, such as abbreviating hippopotamus as hippo. The word can also be used as an adjective: An apocopate word has been shortened by the loss of its ending sound or sounds. The word exam, an abbreviated form of examination, is apocopate.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To cut off or drop; as, to apocopate a word, or the last letter, syllable, or part of a word.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
Shortening by apocope; the state of being apocopated.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
The lengthened form ăthov, or its apocopated thov, is generally found at the beginning of an assertion. p. 124Oma, osta, yua and their lengthened forms are used interrogatively or after certain conjunctions.
From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Jenner, Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
