ELISION. In SPEECH and WRITING, the omission or slurring (eliding) of one or more vowels, consonants, or syllables, as in ol' man old man, gonna going to, wannabe want to be, and the usual pronunciation of parliament (‘parlement’). Although in speech there is no direct indication of elision, in writing it is often marked by an APOSTROPHE: didn't did not, I'd've I would have. Elision is common in everyday speech and may be specially marked in verse to ensure that readers keep the metre, as in th'empire. Foreign students often have difficulty coming to terms with elisions created by the stress-timed RHYTHM of English, which may make word sequences seem nonsensical, It is no good at all sounding like Snow good a tall. See APHAERESIS, APHESIS, APOCOPE, APOSIOPESIS, ELLIPSIS, SYNCOPE.

e·li·sion / iˈlizhən/ • n. the omission of a sound or syllable when speaking (as in I'm, let's, e'en). ∎  an omission of a passage in a book, speech, or film: the movie's elisions and distortions have been carefully thought out. ∎  the process of joining together or merging things, esp. abstract ideas: unease at the elision of so many vital questions.

elision. Omission of part of an architectural element. If a frieze is elided from an entablature, an architrave-cornice is created.