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anacrusis (n.)
"unstressed syllable at the beginning of a verse," 1833, Latinized from Greek anakrousis "a pushing back," of a ship, "backing water," from anakrouein "to push back, stop short, check," from ana "back" (see ana-) + krouein "to strike," from PIE *kreue- (2) "to push, strike" (source also of Russian krusit, Lithuanian krušu, krušti "to smash, shatter," Old Church Slavonic kruchu "piece, bit of food," Old English hreowian "feel pain or sorrow," Old Norse hryggja "make sad"). Related: Anacrustic.
updated on January 25, 2018
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Dictionary entries near anacrusis
anachronism
anachronistic
anacoluthon
anaconda
Anacreontic
anacrusis
anadiplosis
anadromous
anaemia
anaemic
anaerobic