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catalectic

[ kat-l-ek-tik ]

adjective

  1. (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

  1. a catalectic line of verse.

catalectic

/ ˌkætəˈlɛktɪk /

adjective

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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of catalectic1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of catalectic1

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

So that it was written in what the grammarians call trochaic tetrameter catalectic.

Here the alternate lines are catalectic, both light syllables being wanting.

Dicatalectic, dī-kat-a-lek′tik, adj. doubly catalectic, both at the middle and end of the verse.

In like manner the catalectic iambic tetrameter is broken up by inserted rhyme into two short verses, viz.

The hexameter is a six-foot catalectic verse theoretically consisting of five successive dactyls and a trochee.

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