arsis

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ar=sis

CIDE DICTIONARY

arsis, n. [L. arsis, Gr. 'a`rsis a raising or lifting, an elevation of the voice, fr. a'i`rein to raise or lift up. Its ordinary use is the result of am early misapprehension; originally and properly it denotes the lifting of the hand in beating time, and hence the unaccented part of the rhythm.].

•  That part of a foot where the ictus is put, or which is distinguished from the rest (known as the thesis) of the foot by a greater stress of voice.  [1913 Webster]

  " It is uncertain whether the arsis originally consisted in a higher musical tone, greater volume, or longer duration of sound, or in all combined."  [1913 Webster]
•  The elevation of the hand, or that part of the bar at which it is raised, in beating time; the weak or unaccented part of the bar; -- opposed to thesis.  Moore.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

arsis, n. (pl. arses) a stressed syllable or part of a metrical foot in Greek or Latin verse (opp. THESIS).

Etymology

ME f. LL f. Gk, = lifting f. airo raise