Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Cretan: specifically (without a capital letter) applied to a form of verse. See II.
- noun In ancient prosody: A foot of three syllables, the first and third of which are long, while the second is short, the ictus or metrical stress resting either on the first or on the last syllable .
- noun plural Verses consisting of amphimacers.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A poetic foot, composed of one short syllable between two long ones (- ˘ -).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Referring to a
metrical pattern ofpoetry where eachfoot is composed of 3syllables , the first and third of which are stressed and the second is unstressed. This pattern is very rare in English poetry.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I have been rather less scrupulous in allowing the last foot of the glyconic lines to be a dactyl (- uu), in place of the more correct cretic (- u -).
Poems and Fragments 2006
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I have been rather less scrupulous in allowing the last foot of the glyconic lines to be a dactyl (- uu), in place of the more correct cretic (- u -).
Poems and Fragments 2006
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= Ovid lists the three possible ways of scanning the name so as to remove the cretic: _TUticanus_, _TuticAnus_, and _TUtIcAnus_.
The Last Poems of Ovid 43 BC-18? Ovid
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Aristotle, Theophrastus, Theodectes, and Ephorus, the most suitable of all for an oration, either at the beginning or in the middle; they think that it is very suitable for it at the end also; in which place the cretic appears to me to be better.
The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 Marcus Tullius Cicero
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= A constant problem for the Latin poets was the impossibility of using words with cretic patterns (a long syllable, followed by a short syllable, followed by another long syllable) in hexameter or elegiac verse.
The Last Poems of Ovid 43 BC-18? Ovid
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But the three feet I am mentioning, are neither of them very proper for closing a period, (that is, to form the last foot of it) unless when a _dactyl_ is substituted for a _cretic_, for you may use either of them at pleasure; because, even in verse, it is of no consequence whether the last syllable is long or short.
Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. Marcus Tullius Cicero
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For there is the cretic, which consists of a long syllable, then a short one, then a long; and there is its equivalent the paeon; which is equal in time, but longer by one syllable; and which is considered a very convenient foot to be used in prose, as it is of two kinds.
The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 Marcus Tullius Cicero
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But there are several other cadences which will have a numerous and pleasing effect: for even the _cretic_, which consists of a long, a short, and a long syllable, and it's companion the _paeon_, which is equal to it in quantity, though it exceeds it in the number of syllables, is reckoned
Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. Marcus Tullius Cicero
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But these same three feet end a sentence very badly if one of them is placed at the end, unless the dactyl comes at the end instead of a cretic; for it does not signify whether the dactyl or the cretic comes at the end, because it does not signify even in verse whether the last syllable of all is long or short.
The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 Marcus Tullius Cicero
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They are likewise of opinion, that it is equally proper at the end; where, in my opinion, the _cretic_ deserves the preference.
Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. Marcus Tullius Cicero
hernesheir commented on the word cretic
Over here,
Over there;
Anywhere.
July 5, 2010