enclitic

American  

[en-klit-ik] / ɛnˈklɪt ɪk /

adjective

1. (of a word) closely connected in pronunciation with the preceding word and not having an independent accent or phonological status.

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noun

1. an enclitic word, as Latin que “and” in arma virumque, “arms and the man.”

enclitic British  

/ ɪnˈklɪtɪk /

adjective

1. 1. denoting or relating to a monosyllabic word or form that is treated as a suffix of the preceding word, as Latin -que in populusque

   2. (in classical Greek) denoting or relating to a word that throws an accent back onto the preceding word

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noun

1. an enclitic word or linguistic form

Other Word Forms

• enclitically
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of enclitic

1650–60; < Late Latin encliticus < Greek enklitikós, equivalent to en- en- ² + klít ( os ) slope + -ikos -ic

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enclitic

Hoti's business, properly based Oun," and who "gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De," was, to the poet, "Still loftier than the world suspects, Living and dying.

From Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher by Sir Henry Jones

Browning’s intimate knowledge of Greek was shown by the phrase “gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De.”

From Browning and the Dramatic Monologue by S. S. (Samuel Silas) Curry

Again, where prepositions made a pronoun enclitic, the old accent is perishing.

From Society for Pure English, Tract 01 (1919) by Society for Pure English

Properly based Oun— 130 Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De, Dead from the waist down.

From Dramatic Romances by Robert Browning

“And yet,” which must be read, anyĕt, is an instance of the enclitic force in an accented monosyllable.

From Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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