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caesura

 - 4 dictionary results

cae⋅su⋅ra

  [si-zhoor-uh, -zoor-uh, siz-yoor-uh]
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–noun, plural cae⋅su⋅ras, cae⋅su⋅rae  [si-zhoor-ee, -zoor-ee, siz-yoor-ee] .
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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cae·su·ra also ce·su·ra   (sĭ-zhŏŏr'ə, -zŏŏr'ə)   
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

caesura 
1556, from L., "metrical pause," lit. "a cutting," from pp. stem of cædere "to cut down" (see cement).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

caesura

in modern prosody, a pause within a poetic line that breaks the regularity of the metrical pattern. It is represented in scansion by the sign . The caesura sometimes is used to emphasize the formal metrical construction of a line, but it more often introduces the cadence of natural speech patterns and habits of phrasing into the metrical scheme. The caesura may coincide with conventional punctuation marks, as in the following Shakespearean line, in which a strong pause is demanded after each comma for rhetorical expression: This blessed plot,this earth,this realm,this England,

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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