Pronunciation: ekth-lip'-sis
Alternate Spelling: elisio
The omission or elision of letters or syllables (often the consonant "m" and the vowel that precedes it) for the sake of poetical meter. A kind of metaplasm specific to Latin.
The second line illustrates the omission of letters from words via ecthlipsis to accommodate the poetical meter of the second line: Multum ille et terris iactatus et alto Mult'ill'et terris iactatus et alto