Syncopate Definition

sĭngkə-pāt, sĭn-
syncopated, syncopates, syncopating
verb
To shorten (a word) by syncope.
Webster's New World
To modify (rhythm) by syncopation.
American Heritage
To shift (the regular accent) as by beginning a tone on an unaccented beat and continuing it through the next accented beat, or on the last half of a beat and continuing it through the first half of the following beat.
Webster's New World
To use such shifted accents in (a musical composition, passage, rhythmic pattern, etc.)
Webster's New World
Synonyms:

Origin of Syncopate

  • From Medieval Latin syncopātus, past particple of syncopō, from Late Latin syncopa, from Ancient Greek σύν (syn, “with") + κόπτω (kopto, “cut")

    From Wiktionary

  • Late Latin syncopāre syncopāt- from syncopē syncope syncope

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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