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ictus

[ ik-tuhs ]

noun

, plural ic·tus·es, ic·tus.
  1. Prosody. rhythmical or metrical stress.
  2. Pathology.
    1. an epileptic seizure.
    2. a stroke, especially a cerebrovascular accident.


ictus

/ 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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈictal, adjective
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Other Words From

  • ictic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ictus1

1700–10; < Latin: stroke, thrust, equivalent to īc ( ere ) to strike with a weapon + -tus suffix of v. action
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ictus1

C18: from Latin icere to strike
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Example Sentences

Latterly, the underlying metrical ictus is at times hard to detect.

Coleridge, it is true, and Scott had employed a broken rhythm, substituting the temporal for the syllabic ictus, to vary the monotony of the eight-syllabled narrative verse.

The translator shows his good judgment when he retains the original strophe, the characteristic last half-verse with its four ictus included.

The thesis becomes a triseme if the next syllable bears the ictus.

But then it has the double ictus; and, as the word implies, is divisible into three parts, thus giving a quickness and shortness where wanted.

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IctinusICU