ʃən noun Prosody.
the metrical analysis of verse. The usual marks for scansion are ˘ for a short or unaccented syllable, ¯ or · for a long or accented syllable, ^ for a rest, | for a foot division, and ‖ for a caesura or pause.
Origin:
1645–55; < Late Latin scānsiōn- (stem of scānsiō), Latin: a climbing, equivalent to scāns(us) (past participle of scandere to climb) + -iōn- -ion
1645–55; < Late Latin scānsiōn- (stem of scānsiō), Latin: a climbing, equivalent to scāns(us) (past participle of scandere to climb) + -iōn- -ion
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To scansion
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Scansion
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
scansion
1671, "action of marking off of verse in metric feet," from L.L. scansionem (nom. scansio), from L., "act of climbing," from scandere "to climb" (see scan).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
scansion
the analysis and visual representation of a poem's metrical pattern. Adapted from the classical method of analyzing ancient Greek and Roman quantitative verse, scansion in English prosody employs a system of symbols to reveal the mechanics of a poem-i.e., the predominant type of foot (the smallest metrical unit of stressed and unstressed syllables); the number of feet per line; and the rhyme scheme. The purpose of scansion is to enhance the reader's sensitivity to the ways in which rhythmic elements in a poem convey meaning. Deviations in a poem's metrical pattern are often significant to its meaning.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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