SKIP TO CONTENT

haplography

/hæpˈlɑgrəfi/
IPA guide

Other forms: haplographies

In writing, the accidental dropping of one of two letters, syllables, words, or phrases is called haplography. How many haplographies do you see in the text "sory I mised your cal"?

Haplography comes from the Greek haplo- meaning "single" or "simple," plus -graphy meaning "writing." That's single-writing: writing something once, when you should have written it twice. A common example of haplography is writing "Missippi" for "Mississippi." Do you see it? The first one is missing the repeated iss. The word haplography only applies to writing, not speech: Pronouncing something once when it should be pronounced twice is called haplology (or, if you're feeling funny, haplogy), using the Greek root -logy for "speech" instead of writing.

Definitions of haplography
  1. noun
    the accidental omission in writing or printing of at least one of two or more letters, words, or phrases that should be repeated
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘haplography'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family