ictus

American  

[ik-tuhs] / ˈɪk təs /

noun

• ictuses,
  plural
• ictus
  plural

1. Prosody. rhythmical or metrical stress.

2. Pathology.

   1. an epileptic seizure.

   2. a stroke, especially a cerebrovascular accident.

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ictus British  

/ ˈɪktəs /

noun

1. prosody metrical or rhythmic stress in verse feet, as contrasted with the stress accent on words

2. med a sudden attack or stroke

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ictal
  adjective
• ictic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ictus
  plural
• ictuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ictus

1700–10; < Latin: stroke, thrust, equivalent to īc ( ere ) to strike with a weapon + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ictus

She could only repeat her demand, in a cry that reached its ictus in a sob.

From Man Size by William MacLeod Raine

Their pieces of battery had not only the execution but the thunder of our cannon also:           "Ad ictus moenium cum terribili sonitu editos,           pavor et trepidatio cepit."

From The Essays of Montaigne — Volume 08 by Charles Cotton

But the first two words, in which the ictus is at variance with both accent and quantity, show the loose character of the metre.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Charles Thomas Cruttwell

The thesis becomes a triseme if the next syllable bears the ictus.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

"If the arsis is monosyllabic, a short vowel in the thesis followed by a single consonant is not lengthened by the ictus; the arsis is instead prolonged."

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden