While “elide” comes from the Latin verb “elidere,” which means “to strike or dash out,” its modern usage has evolved. Now, eliding something joins together pieces that were previously separate. Under the first definition, a writer may elide letters from a word to create a contraction — “do not” becomes “don’t” and “you are” becomes “you’re.” The second definition rises from this process, as the two words elide (join) to become one.