elision

/əˈlɪʒən/

/ɪˈlɪʒɪn/

Other forms: elisions

Leaving something out is an elision. If the movie version of your favorite book leaves out the most exciting plot line, it's because the director made an elision.

Elision has its roots in the Latin word elidere, which means "to crush out." A government censor who blacks out the names of people or places in a document is making an elision, and so is an editor who removes passages from an article to make it shorter or clearer. The editor probably thinks of the elision as a clean, businesslike cut, but the writer might indeed feel crushed.

Definitions of elision

1. noun

   a deliberate act of omission
   synonyms: exception, exclusion

   type of:

   omission

   neglecting to do something; leaving out or passing over something
2. noun

   omission of a sound between two words (usually a vowel and the end of one word or the beginning of the next)
   type of:

   deletion, omission

   any process whereby sounds or words are left out of spoken words or phrases