truncation
|trunc-a-tion|
🇺🇸
/trʌŋˈkeɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/trʌŋˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
cutting off the end
Etymology
'truncation' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'truncatio' (from 'truncare'), where 'trunc-' meant 'to maim, to lop, to cut off'.
'truncation' came into English via Medieval Latin 'truncation-' (and related Latin forms) and developed into the modern English noun 'truncation'.
Initially it meant 'the act of cutting off or maiming (a part)', but over time it evolved to the more general sense of 'shortening by removing an end or part', with specialized technical senses in mathematics and computing.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the act or process of making something shorter by cutting off the end or a part.
The truncation of the manuscript removed several lengthy appendices.
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Noun 2
(Computing) The process of shortening data (such as a string or file) by removing characters or bytes from the end.
The truncation of the filename prevented the path from exceeding the system limit.
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Noun 3
(Mathematics) The reduction of a numerical value by discarding part of it, especially the fractional part, without rounding.
Truncation of 3.14159 to 3 yields the integer 3.
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Noun 4
(Linguistics) The shortening of a word by omitting one or more syllables (clipping).
Informal speech often shows truncation, e.g., 'ad' from 'advertisement'.
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Last updated: 2025/12/10 00:26