shorten vs syncopate

shorten and syncopate both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
shorten	No	No	Yes	No
syncopate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, syncopate is a hyponym of shorten; that is, syncopate is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than shorten:

shorten: make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
syncopate: omit a sound or letter in a word

Other hyponyms of shorten include foreshorten, clip, curtail, cut short, cut short, truncate.

shorten (verb)	syncopate (verb)
become short or shorter	modify the rhythm by stressing or accenting a weak beat
make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration	omit a sound or letter in a word
reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
make short or shorter