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

But these longs again are peculiar, and sometimes strike the European ear as shorts, thus adding a difficulty for those who would represent Oriental metres by western feet, ictus and accent.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Sir Richard Francis Burton

Men who have yielded it are like cavalry put on the defensive; a very small force with an ictus will scatter them.

From The Egoist by George Meredith

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

Havena I missed the chance to turn out as clarissimus an ictus, as auld Grunwiggin himself?—Whatfor dinna ye speak, Mr. Butler?

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

"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