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3 results for: Caesurae

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
cae·su·ra    Audio Help   [si-zhoor-uh, -zoor-uh, siz-yoor-uh] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural cae·su·ras, cae·su·rae    Audio Help   [si-zhoor-ee, -zoor-ee, siz-yoor-ee] Pronunciation Key.
1.Prosody. a break, esp. a sense pause, usually near the middle of a verse, and marked in scansion by a double vertical line, as in know then thyself ‖ presume not God to scan.
2.Classical Prosody. a division made by the ending of a word within a foot, or sometimes at the end of a foot, esp. in certain recognized places near the middle of a verse.
3.any break, pause, or interruption.
Also, cesura.

[Origin: 1550–60; < L, equiv. to caes(us) cut (ptp. of caedere) (caed- cut + -tus ptp. suffix) + -ūra -ure]

—Related forms
cae·su·ral, cae·su·ric, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Caesurae

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
cae·su·ra also ce·su·ra    Audio Help   (sĭ-zhŏŏr'ə, -zŏŏr'ə)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. cae·su·ras also ce·su·ras or cae·su·rae also ce·su·rae (-zhŏŏr'ē, -zŏŏr'ē)
  1. A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics.
  2. A pause or interruption, as in conversation: After another weighty caesura the senator resumed speaking.
  3. In Latin and Greek prosody, a break in a line caused by the ending of a word within a foot, especially when this coincides with a sense division.
  4. Music A pause or breathing at a point of rhythmic division in a melody.


[Latin caesūra, a cutting, from caesus, past participle of caedere, to cut off; see kaə-id- in Indo-European roots.]

cae·su'ral, cae·su'ric adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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