1. A metrical device in which a short syllable is added at the beginning of a line of verse to complete the meter.
Usage: technical; prosody; rare in modern usage
2. In psychoanalysis, a form of emotional dependence or reliance on another person for psychological support.
Usage: psychology; dated or specialized

Examples

• The poet used anaclisis to adjust the opening foot of the iambic line.
• In classical prosody, anaclisis allowed flexibility in metrical composition.
• The term anaclisis appears rarely in contemporary poetry analysis.
• Psychoanalytic theory once employed anaclisis to describe pathological attachment patterns.
• Understanding anaclisis requires knowledge of both meter and classical verse forms.