Other forms: apocopated; apocopates; apocopating
To apocopate is to shorten a word by cutting off its ending. We often apocopate the word photograph to photo and the word rhinoceros to rhino.
Apocopate is a linguistic term whose parent word is the noun apocope, "the abbreviation of a word by omitting the final sound or sounds." Both words are derived from the Greek word apokoptein, meaning "to cut off." When you apocopate a word, you omit its final sound, letter, or one or more of its syllables, such as abbreviating hippopotamus as hippo. The word can also be used as an adjective: An apocopate word has been shortened by the loss of its ending sound or sounds. The word exam, an abbreviated form of examination, is apocopate.