syncopate
[sing-kuh-peyt, sin-]
- Music.
- to place (the accents) on beats that are normally unaccented.
- to treat (a passage, piece, etc.) in this way.
- Grammar. to contract (a word) by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in reducing Gloucester to Gloster.
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Origin of syncopate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for syncopate
Historical Examples
Syncopate and transpose the envelope, and give the inner part.
Syncopate and curtail a carpenter's tool, and leave an insect.
Syncopate and curtail a motive power, and leave a body of water.
Syncopate and curtail a royal ornament, and leave a domestic animal.
Syncopate and curtail a greenish mineral, and leave a Turkish officer.
syncopate
- music to modify or treat (a beat, rhythm, note, etc) by syncopation
- to shorten (a word) by omitting sounds or letters from the middle
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Word Origin
C17: from Medieval Latin syncopāre to omit a letter or syllable, from Late Latin syncopa syncope
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for syncopate
v.
c.1600, from Late Latin syncopatus, past participle of syncopare "to shorten," also "to faint away, to swoon," from Late Latin syncope (see syncope). Originally "to shorten words by omitting syllables or letters in the middle;" musical sense is from 1660s. Related: Syncopated; syncopating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper