catalectic
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Knowing this, we can detect the hypercatalectic and catalectic lines.
From Composition-Rhetoric by Brooks, Stratton D.
The former is trochaic—the latter is octameter acatalectic, alternating with heptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrameter catalectic.
From How to Write a Novel A Practical Guide to the Art of Fiction by Anonymous
The normal line of which these quatrains are composed is a thirteen-syllabled one divided by a central pause, so that the first half is an iambic dimeter catalectic, and the second an iambic dimeter hypercatalectic.
From The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory (Periods of European Literature, vol. II) by Saintsbury, George
Iambic tetrameter catalectic, formed of seven feet and a cæsura at the close of the line.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John
The former is trochaic—the latter is octametre acatalectic, alternating with heptametre catalectic repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrametre catalectic.
From Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works by Poe, Edgar Allan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
