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anacrusis

English

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anacrusis

  • /anəˈkɹuːsɪs/ UK

Where it comes from

Via New Latin from Ancient Greek ἀνάκρουσις (anákrousis, “pushing up”), from ἀνακρούω (anakroúō, “I push up”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + κρούω (kroúō, “I strike”).

noun anacruses

  1. An unstressed syllable at the start of a verse.
  2. An unstressed note or notes before the first strong beat (or downbeat) of a phrase. Then Etheridge poised his baton, jerked an upbeat, and made the violinists speak the low G and A of their anacrusis.

Translations

Every language

noun (prosody) an unstressed syllable at the start of a verse

Portuguêsanacruse
Françaisanacrouse
DeutschAuftakt
Italianoanacrusi
Русскийанакру́за anakrúza

noun (music) an unstressed note (or notes) before the first strong beat of a phrase

Españolanacrusa
中文弱起 ruòqǐ
Portuguêsanacruse
Françaisanacrouse
DeutschAuftakt, Anakrusis
Italianoanacrusi
Русскийзата́кт zatákt

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Cite this
MLA

"anacrusis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/anacrusis. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

anacrusis. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/anacrusis

Chicago

"anacrusis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/anacrusis.

BibTeX
@misc{anacrusis_2026,
  title = {anacrusis},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/anacrusis},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}