elide v.

word-forming element, in English meaning usually "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, from within; from which time, since; according to; in regard to," from PIE *eghs "out" (source also of Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek. PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-. Often reduced to e- before -b-, -d-, -g-, consonantal -i-, -l-, -m-, -n-, -v- (as in elude, emerge, evaporate, etc.).

"to strike together forcibly," 1620s, from Latin collidere "strike together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see com-) + laedere "to strike, injure by striking," which is of unknown origin. For Latin vowel change, see acquisition. Related: Collided; colliding.

"a striking or cutting off," especially "the cutting off or suppression of a letter, sound, or syllable in speaking or writing," 1580s, from Latin elisionem (nominative elisio) "a striking out, a pressing out," in grammar, "the suppression of a vowel," noun of action from past-participle stem of elidere (see elide).

Properly, in prosody, "the vanishing or metrical ignoring of a vowel at the end of a word before a vowel (or an h) at the beginning of another" [Saintsbury, "Manual of English Prosody"], as in Shakespeare's

Do't, and thou hast the one half of my heart ;

Do't not, thou splitt'st thine own.

But commonly extended in sense to the crushing out of vowels within a word, as in "vi(o)let," "di(a)mond," "wat(e)ry," "splitt(e)st." A favorite, necessary, and hideous practice among the old poets.