catalectic

[kat-l-ek-tik]Prosody

adjective

(of a line of verse) lacking part of the last foot; metrically incomplete, as the second line of One more unfortunate,/Weary of breath.

noun

a catalectic line of verse.

Compare acatalectic, hypercatalectic.

Origin of catalectic

1580–90; < Late Latin catalēcticus < Greek katalēktikós incomplete, equivalent to katalēk-, variant stem of katalḗgein to leave off (kata- cata- + lḗgein to end) + -tikos -tic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for catalectic

Historical Examples of catalectic

In like manner the catalectic iambic tetrameter is broken up by inserted rhyme into two short verses, viz.
A History of English Versification
Jakob Schipper
Here the alternate lines are catalectic, both light syllables being wanting.
English Verse
Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.

British Dictionary definitions for catalectic

catalectic

adjective

prosody (of a line of verse) having an incomplete final foot

Word Origin for catalectic

C16: via Late Latin from Greek katalēktikos incomplete, from katalēgein, from kata- off + lēgein to stop

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

Word Origin and History for catalectic

adj.

1580s, "wanting a syllable in the last foot," from Late Latin catalecticus, from Greek katalektikos "leaving off," from kata- "down" (see cata-) + legein "to leave off, cease from," from PIE *(s)leg- "to be slack, be languid" (see lax).