Losing an unstressed vowel from a word's start

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
a. 1 (context linguistics English) Of, relating to, or formed by aphesis. 2 (context astrology English) Of or relating to the apheta; life-giving.

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Aphetic \A*phet"ic\, a. [Gr. ? letting go, fr. ? to let go.] Shortened by dropping a letter or a syllable from the beginning of a word; as, an aphetic word or form. -- A*phet"ic*al*ly , adv. --New Eng. Dict.

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
Aphetic may refer to: Apheresis (linguistics) , a term in phonetics Aphetic place , a term in astrology

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1880, from aphesis (1880), coined by OED editor Sir James A.H. Murray (1837-1915) for "gradual and unintentional loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word" (as squire from esquire ), from Greek aphienai "to let go, to send forth," from ...

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
adj. produced by aphesis