catalectic

[ kat-l-ek-tik ]

/ ˌkæt lˈɛk tɪk /

Prosody

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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.

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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

Words nearby catalectic

catadromous, catafalque, catagenesis, Catalan, catalase, catalectic, catalepsy, catalexis, Çatalhüyük, Catalin, Catalina Island

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use catalectic in a sentence

So that it was written in what the grammarians call trochaic tetrameter catalectic.
Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum|John Healy
Here the alternate lines are catalectic, both light syllables being wanting.
English Verse|Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.
Dicatalectic, dī-kat-a-lek′tik, adj. doubly catalectic, both at the middle and end of the verse.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
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

The hexameter is a six-foot catalectic verse theoretically consisting of five successive dactyls and a trochee.
A History of English Versification|Jakob Schipper

British Dictionary definitions for catalectic

catalectic

/ (ˌkætəˈlɛktɪk) /

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