"syncopation" meaning in English

See syncopation in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav Forms: syncopations [plural]
Etymology: From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's. Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*(s)kep-}}, {{suffix|en|syncopate|ion}} syncopate + -ion Head templates: {{en-noun|-|s}} syncopation (usually uncountable, plural syncopations)
  1. (linguistics, phonology) The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof. Tags: uncountable, usually
    Sense id: en-syncopation-en-noun-~m3vhZep Categories (other): Linguistics, Phonology, Linguistics, Phonology Disambiguation of Linguistics: 97 3 Disambiguation of Phonology: 86 14 Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences
  2. (music) The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter. Tags: uncountable, usually Translations (rhythm sync): 切分 (qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn) (Chinese), 切分音 (qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn) (Chinese), synkopaatio (Finnish), syncopation [feminine] (French), szinkópa (Hungarian), シンコペーション (shinkopēshon) (Japanese), taki aruaru (Maori), síncope [feminine] (Portuguese), sincopação [feminine] (Portuguese), synkopering [common-gender] (Swedish), synkop [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-syncopation-en-noun-FC5v-5sY Categories (other): Music, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ion, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Music Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 83 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ion: 19 81 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 14 86 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 94 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 5 95 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 13 87 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 10 90 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Music: 1 99 Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music Disambiguation of 'rhythm sync': 9 91
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: syncopational, syncopationally Related terms: syncope
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "syncopational"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "syncopationally"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)kep-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "syncopate",
        "3": "ion"
      },
      "expansion": "syncopate + -ion",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "syncopations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "syncopation (usually uncountable, plural syncopations)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "syncope"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Phonology",
          "orig": "en:Phonology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "97 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Phonology",
          "orig": "en:Phonology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof."
      ],
      "id": "en-syncopation-en-noun-~m3vhZep",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
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          "phonology",
          "phonology"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "loss",
          "loss"
        ],
        [
          "omission",
          "omission"
        ],
        [
          "sound",
          "sound"
        ],
        [
          "syllable",
          "syllable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics, phonology) The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "phonology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Music",
          "orig": "en:Music",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ion",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 95",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 90",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "1 99",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Music",
          "orig": "en:Music",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter."
      ],
      "id": "en-syncopation-en-noun-FC5v-5sY",
      "links": [
        [
          "music",
          "music"
        ],
        [
          "beat",
          "beat"
        ],
        [
          "meter",
          "meter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(music) The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "entertainment",
        "lifestyle",
        "music"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "切分"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "切分音"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "synkopaatio"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "syncopation"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "szinkópa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "lang_code": "ja",
          "roman": "shinkopēshon",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "シンコペーション"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "lang_code": "mi",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "word": "taki aruaru"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "síncope"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "sincopação"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "synkopering"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "rhythm sync",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "synkop"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "syncopation"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 4-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kep-",
    "English terms suffixed with -ion",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio pronunciation",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "en:Linguistics",
    "en:Music",
    "en:Phonology"
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  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "syncopational"
    },
    {
      "word": "syncopationally"
    }
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "name": "root"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "syncopate",
        "3": "ion"
      },
      "expansion": "syncopate + -ion",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "syncopations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "syncope"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Linguistics",
        "en:Phonology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "phonology",
          "phonology"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "loss",
          "loss"
        ],
        [
          "omission",
          "omission"
        ],
        [
          "sound",
          "sound"
        ],
        [
          "syllable",
          "syllable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics, phonology) The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "phonology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "music",
          "music"
        ],
        [
          "beat",
          "beat"
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        [
          "meter",
          "meter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(music) The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "entertainment",
        "lifestyle",
        "music"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/"
    },
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      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-syncopation.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "切分"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "qiēfēn/qiēfēnyīn",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "切分音"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "synkopaatio"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "syncopation"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "szinkópa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "roman": "shinkopēshon",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "シンコペーション"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "lang_code": "mi",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "word": "taki aruaru"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "síncope"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "sincopação"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "synkopering"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "rhythm sync",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "synkop"
    }
  ],
  "word": "syncopation"
}

Download raw JSONL data for syncopation meaning in English (4.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.