epenthesis
/ɪˈpɛn.θə.sɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.29 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The insertion of a phoneme, letter, or syllable into a word, usually to satisfy the phonological constraints of a language or poetic context.
Countable; Uncountable
Etymology
Middle of 16th century: via Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ἐπένθεσις (epénthesis), from ἐπεντίθημι (epentíthēmi, “to insert”), from ἐπί (epí) + ἐντίθημι (entíthēmi, “to put in”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, -, ἐπένθεσις