Definition of "arsis" [ar•sis]

• The short or unaccented part of a metrical foot, especially in quantitative verse. (noun)
• The accented or long part of a metrical foot, especially in accentual verse. (noun)
• Music The upbeat or unaccented part of a measure. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "While from an objective view-point, the rhythm of the two elements pulsates evenly on the same level, our valuation articulates, as it were, iambic periods, with war as thesis, and peace as arsis."
• "Nam in unaquaque parte oratione arsis et thesis sunt, non in ordine syllabarum, sed in pronuntiatione: velut in hac parte _natura_, ut quando dico _natu_ elevatur vox, et est arsis intus; quando vero sequitur _ra_ vox deponitur, et est thesis deforis."
• "The syllable which receives the ictus is called the thesis; the rest of the foot is called the arsis."