anacrusis

[an-uh-kroo-sis]

noun

plural

anacruses 

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.

anacrusis

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• anacrustic adjective
• anacrustically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of anacrusis¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of anacrusis¹

C19: from Greek anakrousis prelude, from anakrouein to strike up, from _ana- + krouein to strike