Definition of anacrusis in English:
anacrusis
nounPlural anacrusesˌanəˈkruːsɪsˌænəˈkrusəs
1Prosody
One or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a verse.
Example sentencesExamples
- Coleridge seems not to have noticed that the tenth line is actually a heptameter - unless one were to allow a double anacrusis.
- The Old English poem contains only about eighty instances of anacrusis, for example.
- A full anapestic metre with feminine ending gives somewhat the effect of anacrusis, since a third light syllable must be crowded in between the stresses.
2Music
One or more unstressed notes before the first bar line of a piece or passage.
Example sentencesExamples
- Edward's final, truthful, answer, ‘O, I have killed my father dear,’ explodes at the end of the third stanza of the poem and in the music at the anacrusis to measure 44.
- This restatement of the Mother's opening chord provides the vehicle for a sudden shift of tonality to B-flat major and Edward's final answer at the anacrusis to measures 44 and following.
- The first subphrase is a modified inversion of the first measure of the Mother's theme, motives a and b and the first note of motive c, excluding the anacrusis but including the grace note.
- Again they sound at the same speed as in bar 4 (if the two-to-one tempo-relationship is observed), but this time they act as anacrusis to a vigorous statement of ‘c’.
Origin
Mid 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek anakrousis 'prelude', from ana- 'up' + krousis, from krouein 'to strike'.
Definition of anacrusis in US English:
anacrusis
nounˌænəˈkrusəsˌanəˈkro͞osəs
1Prosody
One or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a verse.
Example sentencesExamples
- Coleridge seems not to have noticed that the tenth line is actually a heptameter - unless one were to allow a double anacrusis.
- The Old English poem contains only about eighty instances of anacrusis, for example.
- A full anapestic metre with feminine ending gives somewhat the effect of anacrusis, since a third light syllable must be crowded in between the stresses.
2Music
One or more unstressed notes before the first bar line of a piece or passage.
Example sentencesExamples
- The first subphrase is a modified inversion of the first measure of the Mother's theme, motives a and b and the first note of motive c, excluding the anacrusis but including the grace note.
- Edward's final, truthful, answer, ‘O, I have killed my father dear,’ explodes at the end of the third stanza of the poem and in the music at the anacrusis to measure 44.
- Again they sound at the same speed as in bar 4 (if the two-to-one tempo-relationship is observed), but this time they act as anacrusis to a vigorous statement of ‘c’.
- This restatement of the Mother's opening chord provides the vehicle for a sudden shift of tonality to B-flat major and Edward's final answer at the anacrusis to measures 44 and following.
Origin
Mid 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek anakrousis ‘prelude’, from ana- ‘up’ + krousis, from krouein ‘to strike’.