caesura

/sɪˈzjʊəɹə/

//sɪˈzjʊəɹə// noun

"caesura" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“caesura” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pause or interruption in a poem, music, building, or other work of art.

Corpus desk

Index EN-caesura · caesura · English

caesura · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for caesura
PropertyValue
Headwordcaesura
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɪˈzjʊəɹə/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “caesura” in English

caesuraranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

caesura is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɪˈzjʊəɹə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for caesura, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Latin caesūra (“cutting, hewing”), from caesus, perfect passive participle of caedō (“I cut down, hew”). The correct English form is caesura, spelled C-A-E-S-U-R-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A pause or interruption in a poem, music, building, or other work of art.
  2. 2
    Using two words to divide a metrical foot.
  3. 3
    The caesura mark ‖ or ||.
  4. 4
    A break of an era or other measure of history and time; where one era ends and another begins; turning point.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how caesura appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The caesura is meant to fall not with the comma after difficult, but after thou; and there is a most effective and grand suspension intended. It is Satan who speaks— Satan in the wilderness; and he marks, as he wishes to mark, the tremendous opposition of attitude between the two parties to the temptation.
  2. Now, then, for my prologue. I am not going to change my cæsuras and cadences for anybody; so if you do not like the heroic, or iambic trimeter brachy-catalectic, you had better not wait to hear it […]

Etymology

Latin caesūra (“cutting, hewing”), from caesus, perfect passive participle of caedō (“I cut down, hew”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "caesura"?
"caesura" is spelled C-A-E-S-U-R-A. The IPA pronunciation is /sɪˈzjʊəɹə/.
What does "caesura" mean?
As a noun, "caesura" means: A pause or interruption in a poem, music, building, or other work of art.
How do you pronounce "caesura"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "caesura" is /sɪˈzjʊəɹə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "caesura"?
Latin caesūra (“cutting, hewing”), from caesus, perfect passive participle of caedō (“I cut down, hew”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list