ecthlipsis

	The omission or elision of letters or syllables (often the consonant "m" and the vowel that precedes it) for the sake of poetical meter. A kind of metaplasm specific to Latin.

Examples
	The second line illustrates the omission of letters from words via ecthlipsis to accommodate the poetical meter of the second line: Multum ille et terris iactatus et alto Mult'ill'et terris iactatus et alto —Mosellanus
Related Figures
	metaplasm Figures of Omission aphaeresis apocope ellipsis synaloepha Omitting one of two vowels which occur together at the end of one word and the beginning of another. synaeresis When two syllables are contracted into one. syncope Cutting letters or syllables from the middle of a word systole To make short a naturally long vowel.
See Also
	General Rhetorical Strategies: Omission

	Sources:	Quintilian 9.4.36; Mosellanus ("ecthlipsis" "elisio") a4r; Peacham (1577) E3r

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Please cite "Silva Rhetoricae" (rhetoric.byu.edu)

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ekth-lip'-sis	from Gk. ek, "out" and thlibein, "to rub"
	*elisio*