ictus

[ik-tuhs]

noun

plural

ictuses, ictus 

1. Prosody.,  rhythmical or metrical stress.

2. Pathology.

   1. an epileptic seizure.

   2. a stroke, especially a cerebrovascular accident.

ictus

/ ˈɪktəs /

noun

1. prosody metrical or rhythmic stress in verse feet, as contrasted with the stress accent on words

2. med a sudden attack or stroke

Other Word Forms

• ictic adjective
• ictal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ictus¹

1700–10; < Latin: stroke, thrust, equivalent to īc ( ere ) to strike with a weapon + -tus suffix of v. action

Word History and Origins

Origin of ictus¹

C18: from Latin icere to strike

Example Sentences

Latterly, the underlying metrical ictus is at times hard to detect.

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Coleridge, it is true, and Scott had employed a broken rhythm, substituting the temporal for the syllabic ictus, to vary the monotony of the eight-syllabled narrative verse.

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The translator shows his good judgment when he retains the original strophe, the characteristic last half-verse with its four ictus included.

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The thesis becomes a triseme if the next syllable bears the ictus.

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But then it has the double ictus; and, as the word implies, is divisible into three parts, thus giving a quickness and shortness where wanted.

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