Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Syncope
/ˈsɪŋkəpi/noun
A brief loss of consciousness caused by a drop in blood flow to the brain; in grammar, the loss of a sound from the middle of a word.
The Greek roots
σύν
sýn
together
κόπτω
kóptō
to cut, strike
Literally: “a cutting short”
The story of the word
One Greek noun meaning 'a cutting short' walked into three different fields and stayed in all of them. Grammarians use it for the vowel that vanishes from the middle of a word, as in ne'er and o'er. Physicians use it for a fainting fit, the sudden cutting off of consciousness. Musicians took the same root for syncopation, where the expected beat is cut away and the accent lands off it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
syncopationapocopecomma
In a sentence
The cardiologist wanted a monitor fitted after the second episode of syncope.