Althouse: Word definition of the day. (I give the definition. See if you know the word without looking it up.)

May 29, 2015

Word definition of the day. (I give the definition. See if you know the word without looking it up.)

"Originally and properly, according to ancient writers, The setting down of the foot or lowering of the hand in beating time, and hence (as marked by this) the stress or ictus; the stressed syllable of a foot in a verse; a stressed note in music."

That's from the Oxford English Dictionary. That's the oldest meaning of a pretty common word.

ADDED: The word is "thesis." Thar surprised me.

31 comments:

YoungHegelian said...: Accent?; 5/29/15, 10:51 AM
Birches said...: I don't think it's accent, but after the last phrase in the definition, I can't get it out of my mind.; 5/29/15, 10:57 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: I stayed Greek and guessed "theme" then cheated and looked. I claim to have come close and award myself several internet points.; 5/29/15, 10:58 AM
lemondog said...: Tap?

Rap?

Clap?; 5/29/15, 11:10 AM
traditionalguy said...: Beat?; 5/29/15, 11:11 AM
Skyler said...: Thesis, but I would quibble that it is a pretty common word. It's not common in most circles, only in academia.; 5/29/15, 11:12 AM
Indigo Red said...: Thesis.; 5/29/15, 11:13 AM
J2 said...: Stroke; 5/29/15, 11:17 AM
Jaq said...: I was completely stumped, and found this definition for a word I have never heard of:

[redacted]: "the unstressed syllable of a metrical foot.To the Greeks, the two terms designated the raising and lowering of the foot in walking, but their meanings became reversed in the Latin tradition, where grammarians identified them with the lowering and raising of the voice."

Of course it looks like an error, since it refers to "two terms" and purports to define one.; 5/29/15, 11:18 AM
Jaq said...: Since we are now dishing, the definition above is for "arsis."; 5/29/15, 11:20 AM
Jaq said...: Sorry, I get it now... D'oh!; 5/29/15, 11:29 AM
FullMoon said...: Cadence?; 5/29/15, 11:42 AM
Jim in St Louis said...: Iambic?; 5/29/15, 11:47 AM
FullMoon said...: Suspecting my first guess was incorrect, but the definition seeming somehow familiar, I went to my extensive library and found the correct answer in my copy of Die Fragmente und die Lehrsätze der griechischen Rhythmiker from 1861.; 5/29/15, 11:49 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @tim The OED begins with: " I. In Prosody, etc.: opposed to arsis n."

The OED definition fir arsis begins with a bunch of quotes that suggest what "arsis" might have been thought to mean and the confusion about the meaning, including:

1819 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia (new ed.) (at cited word), Thesis implies the emphatic or accentuated part of the bar; and arsis the weak, or unaccented part.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 38/2 Inasmuch as the confusion among musicians in using these terms [sc. arsis, thesis, ictus] has resulted from the disagreement of scholars as to their proper application, it is much to be hoped that they will be allowed to sink into disuse.

And then "In modern acceptation: the strong syllable in English metre (or classical metre as read by English-speakers), the strong note in barred music; thus identical with the modern meaning of Latin ictus. (A.J.E.)"; 5/29/15, 11:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Tempo?; 5/29/15, 12:17 PM
Rockport Conservative said...: I did a search to see if the first thing to show up would be this blog. It wasn't first but it was second and third. Interesting.; 5/29/15, 12:20 PM
Bryan Townsend said...: In music I think we call this the "tactus" but that is not a common word.; 5/29/15, 12:27 PM
lemondog said...: Rhythm

Downbeat

Bounce; 5/29/15, 12:28 PM
lgv said...: 1. accent

2. emphasis

3. beat; 5/29/15, 12:38 PM
Lyle Sanford, RMT said...: When I was back there in conservatory school, There was a person there Who put forth the proposition that when you can see the instant a conductor's baton stops going down and starts going up - that's the ictus and that's a good conductor.; 5/29/15, 12:48 PM
rhhardin said...: damnu dista

My mnemonic for poetic feet from high school. One of them is morse code for the metrical pattern and the other is the first letters of the foot name.

It's a great mnemonic. I still mnem it.

The only trick is remembering which is which. But then there's no foot starting with n or u.

I discovered the other day that I can still copy morse at 40wpm, though it's getting edgy up there. This is much faster than is needed in poetry.; 5/29/15, 1:02 PM
lemondog said...: Pulse

Pound

Squeegee; 5/29/15, 1:25 PM
rhhardin said...: If it's question of remembering to breathe, you need a pneumonic.; 5/29/15, 2:02 PM
Jaq said...: "Ictus" reminded me of "rictus" which then reminded me of Hillary.; 5/29/15, 2:35 PM
chickelit said...: Lyle Sanford, RMT said...

When I was back there in conservatory school, There was a person there Who put forth the proposition that when you can see the instant a conductor's baton stops going down and starts going up - that's the ictus and that's a good conductor.

That one reminded me of an old chirbit I did called The Parade Of Soft. (Press the green arrow at the link to hear).; 5/29/15, 2:48 PM
whitney said...: Tap?; 5/29/15, 5:12 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Why did you think anyone would care?; 5/29/15, 5:23 PM
Walter said...: Accent.; 5/29/15, 8:20 PM
MrCharlie2 said...: Accent; 5/29/15, 8:42 PM
lemondog said...: Oh...THEsis. After squeegee that was going to be my next guess......; 5/30/15, 7:51 AM