Dictionary entry

Rhotacism

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Rho″ta‐cism (?), n. [Gr. ρωτακἵζειν to use the letter r (ρ) 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.