Definition of acatalectic in English:
acatalectic
adjective əˌkatəˈlɛktɪkāˌkadlˈektik
Prosody (of a line of verse) having the full number of syllables.
Example sentencesExamples
- The term catalectic means the meter is short the final syllable (tongue would have to be tonguey to complete the trochee), and acatalectic means it is complete.
- Unlike most English adjectives, ‘catalectic’ and its opposite ‘acatalectic’ usually follow the nouns they qualify: thus the last of Shelley's lines quoted above would be called a trochaic trimeter catalectic.
- When unstressed syllables are not dropped at the beginning or the end of a line, they are said to be acatalectic.
- A fierce opponent of literary plagiarism, Poe claims originality for his stanza form in ‘The Raven’: trochaic rhythm; octameter acatalectic alternating with heptameter catalectic repeated in refrain of fifth verse.
noun əˌkatəˈlɛktɪkāˌkadlˈektik
Prosody A line of acatalectic verse.
Example sentencesExamples
- In classical terms, the meter is a slightly irregular amphribachic trimeter, alternating acatalectic and catalectic.