synizesis

[sin-uh-zee-sis]

noun Phonetics.

the combination into one syllable of two vowels (or of a vowel and a diphthong) that do not form a diphthong.

Origin of synizesis

1840–50; < Late Latin < Greek synízēsis, equivalent to syn- syn- + (h)iz- (stem of hízein to sit¹) + -ēsis -esis

Also called synaeresis.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for synizesis

Historical Examples of synizesis

The synizesis and synapsis stages are similar to those in Chelymorpha (figs. 61 and 62).
Studies in Spermatogenesis
Nettie Maria Stevens

British Dictionary definitions for synizesis

synizesis

noun

phonetics the contraction of two vowels originally belonging to separate syllables into a single syllable, without diphthongizationCompare syneresis

cytology the contraction of chromatin towards one side of the nucleus during the prophase of meiosis

Word Origin for synizesis

C19: via Late Latin from Greek sunizēsis a collapse, from sunizanein to sink down, from syn- + hizein to sit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

synizesis in Medicine

synizesis

[sĭn′ĭ-zē′sĭs]

n.

Closure or obliteration of the pupil of the eye.

The phase of meiosis in some species in which the chromatin contracts into a mass at one side of the nucleus.