anacrusis

American  

[an-uh-kroo-sis] / ˌæn əˈkru sɪs /

noun

anacruses plural

1. Prosody. an unstressed syllable or syllable group that begins a line of verse but is not counted as part of the first foot.

2. Music. the note or notes preceding a downbeat; upbeat.

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anacrusis British  

/ ˌænəˈkrʌstɪk, ˌænəˈkruːsɪs /

noun

1. prosody one or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a line of verse

2. music

   1. an unstressed note or group of notes immediately preceding the strong first beat of the first bar

   2. another word for upbeat

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anacrustic
  adjective
• anacrustically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

noun

• anacruses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of anacrusis

1825–35; < Latin < Greek anákrousis, equivalent to anakroú(ein ) to strike up, push back ( ana- ana- + kroúein to strike, push) + -sis -sis