anacrusis

noun

an·a·cru·sis | \ ˌa-nə-ˈkrü-səs

plural anacruses\ ˌa-nə-ˈkrü-ˌsēz

Definition of anacrusis

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

History and Etymology for 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"