Etymology From Latin aphaeresis, from Ancient Greek ἀφαίρεσις (aphaíresis, “a taking away”), from ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō) (from ἀφ- (aph-), variant of ἀπό (apó, “off, away from”) before an aspirated vowel) + αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take; to snatch”)) + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns of action); the grammatical sense developed in Latin.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Phonetics, Phonology, Prosody, SciencesCanada, US, Rhetoric 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.
2
Medicine, SciencesCanada, US, Specific 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, SciencesCanada, US, General, Obsolete Extirpation or extraction of a superfluity (especially a pathological one) from the body, especially blood.