sandhi

noun

: modification of the sound of a morpheme (such as a word or affix) conditioned by syntactic context in which it is uttered (such as pronunciation of -ed as \d\ in glazed and as \t\ in paced or occurrence of a in a cow and of an in an old cow)

Word History

Etymology

Sanskrit saṁdhi, literally, placing together

First Known Use

1806, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sandhi was in 1806

Dictionary Entries Near sandhi

Cite this Entry

“Sandhi.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandhi. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on sandhi

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!