Apheresis

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: É™fîʹrÄ­sÄ­s, IPA: /əˈfɪəɹɪsɪs/,

Alternative forms

• aphaeresis UK, Canada
• aphæresis archaic

Origin

From Latin aphaeresis, from Ancient Greek ἀφαίρεσις (aphairesis, "a taking away"), from ἀφαιρέειν (from ἀφ- (aph-, “aph-”, variant of ἀπό (apo, "off”, “away from") before an aspirated vowel) + αἱρέειν (aireein, "to take”, “to snatch")) + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns of action); the grammatical sense developed in Latin.

“aphæresis” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary 2

nd

1989

Full definition of apheresis

Noun

1. (linguistics, prosody) Elision, suppression, or complete loss of a letter or sound (syllable) from the beginning of a word, such as the development of special from especial; procope.
2. (medicine, specific, still current) The removal of blood from a patient, and the removal of certain components (such as platelets) from that blood, followed by the transfusion of the filtered blood back to the donor (patient).
3. (medicine, general, obsolete) Extirpation or extraction of a superfluity (especially a pathological one) from the body, especially blood.

Synonyms

• (medicine) pheresis, hemapheresis
• (linguistics) prosiopesis

Hyponyms

• (linguistics, prosody) aphesis

Coordinate terms

• (linguistics) syncope, apocope

Derived terms

• aphaeretic, apheretic

Anagrams

• Pharisees