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lenition

American  
[li-nish-uhn] / lɪˈnɪʃ ən /

noun

  1. 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.

  2. 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; 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.