[uh-pen-thuh-sis] 
[-seez] . the insertion of one or more sounds in the middle of a word, as the schwa in the nonstandard pronunciation [el-uh m] of elm. |
| e·pen·the·sis (ĭ-pěn'thĭ-sĭs) n. pl. e·pen·the·ses (-sēz') The insertion of a sound in the middle of a word, as in Middle English thunder from Old English thunor. [Late Latin, from Greek, from epentithenai, to insert : ep-, epi-, epi- + en-, in; see en-2 + tithenai, to place; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.] ep'en·thet'ic (ěp'ĭn-thět'ĭk) adj. |