arsis

[ ahr-sis ]

noun,plural ar·ses [ahr-seez]. /ˈɑr siz/.
  1. Music. the upward stroke in conducting; upbeat.: Compare thesis (def. 4).

  2. Prosody.

    • the part of a metrical foot that bears the ictus or stress.

    • (less commonly) a part of a metrical foot that does not bear the ictus.: Compare thesis (def. 5).

Origin of arsis

1
1350–1400; Middle English: raising the voice <Latin <Greek, equivalent to ar- (stem of aírein to raise, lift) + -sis-sis

Words Nearby arsis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use arsis in a sentence

  • Of the whole number, nine begin on the full bar, eleven on the arsis.

    The Central Eskimo | Franz Boas
  • They exhibited a more or less regular alternation of arsis and thesis.

    English Verse | Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.
  • When however it does occur, one of the three conditions under which a final syllable can take an arsis must accompany it.

    The English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
  • The syllable which receives the ictus is called the thesis; the rest of the foot is called the arsis.

    New Latin Grammar | Charles E. Bennett
  • At last, Carbo sent a large body of cavalry against Pompey, near the river arsis.

British Dictionary definitions for arsis

arsis

/ (ˈɑːsɪs) /


nounplural -ses (-siːz)
  1. (in classical prosody) the long syllable or part on which the ictus falls in a metrical foot: Compare thesis (def. 6)

Origin of arsis

1
C18: via Late Latin from Greek, from airein to raise

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012