caesura

enUK

cae·su·ra

also ce·su·ra (sĭ-zho͝or′ə, -zo͝or′ə)n. pl. cae·su·ras or cae·su·rae (-zho͝or′ē, -zo͝or′ē) also ce·su·ras or ce·su·rae 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.

caesura

(sɪˈzjʊərə) n, pl -ras or -rae (-riː) 1. (Poetry) (in modern prosody) a pause, esp for sense, usually near the middle of a verse line. Usual symbol: || 2. (Poetry) (in classical prosody) a break between words within a metrical foot, usually in the third or fourth foot of the line[C16: from Latin, literally: a cutting, from caedere to cut] caeˈsural, caeˈsuric adj

cae•su•ra

or ce•su•ra

(sɪˈʒʊər ə, -ˈzʊər ə, sɪzˈyʊər ə)

n., pl. cae•su•ras or ce•su•ras, cae•su•rae or ce•su•rae (sɪˈʒʊər i, -ˈzʊər i, sɪzˈyʊər i) 1. a break or pause in a line of verse, marked in scansion by a double vertical line. 2. any pause or interruption. [1550–60; < Latin] cae•su′ral, cae•su′ric, adj.

caesura

A pause in a line, usually for sense, but forming part of the metrical foot.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	caesura - a pause or interruption (as in a conversation); "after an ominous caesura the preacher continued"pause, suspension, intermission, interruption, break - a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
	2.	caesura - a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse lineprosody, inflection - the patterns of stress and intonation in a language

Translations

Caesura

enUK

caesura

1. (in modern prosody) a pause, esp for sense, usually near the middle of a verse line. 2. (in classical prosody) a break between words within a metrical foot, usually in the third or fourth foot of the line

Caesura

in poetry, a regular break between words in a poem.

In classical poetry, a caesura usually occurred within a foot; in accentual-syllabic verse it usually coincides with the foot ending. The caesura occurs after the second foot in the iambic pentameter line, as in “Eshche odno ∥ poslednee skazan’e” (“Yet one last tale,” Pushkin); after the third foot in iambic and trochaic hexameter lines, for example, “Dni pozdnei oseni ∥ braniat obyknovenno” (“The days of late autumn are usually cursed,” Pushkin); and occasionally after the second foot in the amphibrachic tetrameter line, as in “Gliazhu kak bezumnyi, ∥ na chernuiu shal’” (“I gaze like a madman upon the black shawl,” Pushkin). The longer the line, the greater the need for a caesura. Usually a strong intonational pause, a caesura approaches the strength of a line ending. As with a clausula, the foot preceding a caesura may by truncated or augmented; it may also rhyme, for example, “Tri u Budrysa syna, ∥ kak i on, tri litvina” (“Budrys has three sons, like him, Lithuanians,” Pushkin).

Caesura

in music, a division between sections of a musical work. Together with other factors, a caesura ensures the perception of the articulation of a work and its structure. There are no special markings to indicate a caesura; in part, phrasing ligatures permit their location to be judged. In a number of instances, a caesura coincides with natural pauses between notes; they always appear after melodic and harmonic cadences, after a hold, and at transitions to a repeat. The significance, or impact, of a caesura is proportional to the scale of the sections it divides and the degree to which they appear a completed entity. In a number of instances, varying opinions concerning the location and significance of a caesura are possible; together with other features, such differences mold the distinctiveness of individual interpretations.

caesura

cae·su·ra

caesura

cae•su•ra

or ce•su•ra

caesura

Caesura

caesura

Caesura

Caesura

caesura

Words related to caesura

noun a pause or interruption (as in a conversation)

Related Words

noun a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line

Related Words