Word of the Day 4.28.08
cae·su·ra also ce·su·ra (s
-zh
r
, -zr)
n. pl. cae·su·ras or cae·su·rae (-zhr
, -zr)
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.
