saccade

American  

[sa-kahd, suh-] / sæˈkɑd, sə- /

noun

1. the act of checking a horse quickly with a single strong pull of the reins.

2. Ophthalmology. the series of small, jerky movements of the eyes when changing focus from one point to another.

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saccade British  

/ -ˈkeɪd, səˈkɑːd /

noun

1. the movement of the eye when it makes a sudden change of fixation, as in reading

2. a sudden check given to a horse

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Etymology

Origin of saccade

1720–30; < French saccade jerk, jolt, originally, movement of a horseman who abruptly pulls the reins, equivalent to Middle French saqu ( er ) to pull violently (N dialectal variant of Old French sachier, ultimately derivative of sac sack ¹, hence presumably with sense “withdraw from a sack”) + -ade -ade ¹

Example Sentences

About 30% of the time it automatically shrinks the saccade over a familiar run of words, skipping past those it can predict.

From The Guardian • Apr. 8, 2017

The rapid movement of the eyes used to locate and direct the fovea onto visual stimuli is called a saccade.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013