View example sentences, synonyms and word forms for Ictus.
Ictus meaning
The pulse. | A sudden attack, blow, stroke, or seizure, as in a sunstroke, the sting of an insect, pulsation of an artery, etc. | The stress of voice laid upon an accented syllable of a word. Compare arsis.
Example sentences (6)
Note how the word endings do not coincide with the end of a metrical foot; for the early part of the line this forces the natural accent of each word to lie in the middle of a foot, playing against the natural rhythm of the ictus.
Similarly, the second syllable of the words urbem main and Romam main carry the metrical ictus even though the first is naturally stressed in typical pronunciation.
The Homeric poems arrange words in the line so that there is an interplay between the metrical ictus—the first long syllable of each foot—and the natural, spoken accent of words.
The initial syllable of either foot is called the ictus, the basic "beat" of the verse.
There is usually a caesura after the ictus of the third foot.
There seems to be great debate over whether Plautus found favor in strong word accent or verse ictus, stress.