arsis

American  

[ahr-sis] / ˈɑr sɪs /

noun

arses plural

1. Music. the upward stroke in conducting; upbeat.

2. Prosody.

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

   2. (less commonly) a part of a metrical foot that does not bear the ictus.

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arsis British  

/ ˈɑːsɪs /

noun

1. (in classical prosody) the long syllable or part on which the ictus falls in a metrical foot Compare thesis

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• arses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arsis

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

Example Sentences

Isorrhythmic, ī-sō-rith′mik, adj. in ancient prosody, equal in the number of times for thesis and arsis, as a dactyl and anap�st.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

“And yēt,” is a complete iambus; but anyet is, like spirit, a dibrach u u, trocheized, however, by the arsis or first accent damping, though not extinguishing, the second.

From Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Ad hanc autem rem arsis et thesis necessariae.

From The Roman Pronunciation of Latin Why we use it and how to use it by Lord, Frances Ellen

Ascend′able, Ascend′ible.—Ascending rhythm, in prosody, a rhythm in which the arsis follows the thesis, as an iambic or anap�stic rhythm: opposed to descending rhythms, as the trochaic and dactylic.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

The most important feature of both sequences is the swing from a glacial to an inter-glacial epoch or from the arsis or accentuated part of an historical pulsation to the thesis or unaccented part.

From Climatic Changes Their Nature and Causes by Huntington, Ellsworth