Rhotacism

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rhotacism \Rho"ta*cism\, n. [Gr. "rwtaki`zein to use the letter
     r ([rho]) overmuch: cf. F. rhotacisme.]
     An oversounding, or a misuse, of the letter r; specifically
     (Phylol.), the tendency, exhibited in the Indo-European
     languages, to change s to r, as wese to were.
     [1913 Webster]