lenition
Americannoun
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Phonetics. a phonological process that weakens consonant articulation at the ends of syllables or between vowels, causing the consonant to become voiced, spirantized, or deleted.
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Linguistics. a type of Celtic mutation that derives historically from phonological lenition.
Etymology
Origin of lenition
1535–45 for obsolete sense “mitigation, assuaging”; 1910–15 for current senses; < Latin lēnīt ( us ) (past participle of lēnīre to soften; see lenis, -ite 2) + -ion
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.
