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

There are actually schoolbooks which treat the verse ictus, the beat of the chanter's foot, as a word stress and prescribe terra trib�s scopul�s.

From Society for Pure English Tract 4 The Pronunciation of English Words Derived from the Latin by Sargeaunt, John

In so far as a mere trick of emphasis may serve to distinguish problems, this ictus indicates the sociological starting-point.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra

"The deil ye didna!—See, man, I got the word but this morning out of a memorial of Mr. Crossmyloof's—see, there it is, ictus clarissimus et perti—peritissimus—it's a' Latin, for it's printed in the Italian types."

From The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2 by Scott, Walter, Sir

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 Cruttwell, Charles Thomas