the vertex or summit of any thing.

in Antiquity, the crest of a helmet, but more especially a kind of cap worn by the flamens.

among grammarians, denotes the mark of a long syllable, falsely called a long accent.

APHÆRESIS, in Grammar, a figure by which a letter or syllable is cut off from the beginning of a word. Thus ciconia, by aphaeresis, is written conia; contemnere, temere; omittere, mittere, &c.