synaeresis
sy·nae·re·sis
noun
1.
the contraction of two vowels into a diphthong
2.
the separation of liquid from a gel that is caused by contraction (as in cheese making)
Origin
From Ancient Greek συναίρεσις (sunaíresis, “unification”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + αἵρεσις (haíresis, “taking”), from αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take”).
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.