arsis

American  

[ahr-sis] / ˈɑr sɪs /

noun

plural

arses

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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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

In a glacial epoch or in the arsis of an historic pulsation, storms are usually abundant and severe, the mean temperature is lower than usual, snow accumulates in high latitudes or upon lofty mountains.

From Climatic Changes Their Nature and Causes by Huntington, Ellsworth

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 syllable which receives the ictus is called the thesis; the rest of the foot is called the arsis.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

The hiatus is commonest in monosyllabic words, or words ending in a short syllable followed by m, making the first syllable of an arsis resolved into two shorts.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by Middleton, George

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