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anacrusis

noun an·a·cru·sis \ ˌa-nə-ˈkrü-səs \

Updated on: 28 Feb 2018

Definition of anacrusis

plural anacruses play \-ˌsēz\

1 : one or more syllables at the beginning of a line of poetry that are regarded as preliminary to and not a part of the metrical pattern

2 : upbeat; specifically : one or more notes or tones preceding the first downbeat of a musical phrase

Origin and Etymology of anacrusis

borrowed from New Latin & Greek; New Latin, borrowed from Greek anákrousis, ánkrousis act of pushing back, beginning of a song," noun derivative (with the suffix -sis -sis), from anakroúein to push back, strike up, begin (a melody)," from ana- ana- + kroúein "to strike, knock, play," going back to Indo-European *kreu̯s- "strike," whence also Lithuanian krùšti "to crush, trample," Old Church Slavic krušiti "to smash"

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First Known Use: 1811

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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