catalexis

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Nearly all English metres owe their existence as metres to "catalexis," or pause, for the time of one or more feet, and, as a rule, the position and amount of catalexis are fixed.

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Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun The absence of one or more syllables in a line of verse, especially in the last foot.

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Examples (7)

  • Nearly all English metres owe their existence as metres to "catalexis," or pause, for the time of one or more feet, and, as a rule, the position and amount of catalexis are fixed. —  The Unknown Eros
  • Dedicated to catalexis and —  Dohiyi Mir
  • We were told, of course, that it was not all quite as simple as this: that there were frequent metrical variations, such as trochees changing places with dactyls, and anapests with iambi; that feet could be inverted, so that a trochaic line might begin with an iambus, an anapestic line with a dactyl, or _vice versa_; that syllables might be omitted at the beginning or the end or even in the middle of a line, and that this "cutting-off" was called _catalexis_; that syllables might even be added at the beginning or end of certain lines and that these syllables were called —  A Study of Poetry
  • Nearly all English metres owe their existence as metres to "catalexis," or pause, for the time of one or more feet, and, as —  The Unknown Eros
  • a rule, the position and amount of catalexis are fixed. —  The Unknown Eros
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Greek katalēxis, from katalēgein, to leave off; see catalectic.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Gr.κατάληξις, an ending, termination (in prosody as in def.), from καταλήγειν, leave off: see catalectic.
 

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/kætəˈlɛksɪs/
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