English
anapest
Anapest comes from Latin anapaestus ‘anapestic’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἀνάπαιστος ‘struck back, reversed relative to dactyl’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνάπαιστοςanápaistos‘struck back, reversed relative to dactyl’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanapaestus‘anapestic’
- Englishtodayanapest
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνάπαιστοςanápaistos‘struck back, reversed relative to dactyl’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanapaestus‘anapestic’
- Englishtodayanapest
A compound of ἀνά ‘back’ + παίω ‘to strike’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- ‘on, onto’
Proto-Hellenic *aná ‘up, upon’
Ancient Greek ἀνά ‘back’
Proto-Indo-European *p(y)eh₂w- ‘to hit, strike’
Ancient Greek παίω ‘to strike’
Every English word from Ancient Greek ἀνάπαιστος
Today it means
noun A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | ⏖ – |: In qualitative metre, a foot with two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed final syllable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἀνάπαιστος / anapest