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Music. the upward stroke in conducting; upbeat.
Compare (def 4).
Prosody.

the part of a metrical foot that bears the ictus or stress.
(less commonly) a part of a metrical foot that does not bear the ictus.
Compare (def 5).

Historical Examples

Of the whole number, nine begin on the full bar, eleven on the arsis.
The Central Eskimo Franz Boas

With arsis monosyllabic, the strong tendency is to make the thesis short.
English Verse Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.

The syllable which receives the ictus is called the thesis; the rest of the foot is called the arsis.
New Latin Grammar Charles E. Bennett

All of these unaccented syllables are reckoned together as one thesis, as against the accented syllable or arsis.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

Examples of resolution of the first arsis are very numerous, cninga wldor El.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

Examples of the resolution of the second arsis are less numerous, as wldor cninge El.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

The sub-type A3 is type A with alliteration on the second arsis only and is limited almost entirely to the first hemistich.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

A strengthened thesis occurs only after the second arsis; this sub-type might therefore be designated A3b.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

When however it does occur, one of the three conditions under which a final syllable can take an arsis must accompany it.
The English Language Robert Gordon Latham

The chief variations arise from resolution of the first arsis, cning lmhtig El.
A History of English Versification Jakob Schipper

noun (pl) -ses (-siːz)
(in classical prosody) the long syllable or part on which the ictus falls in a metrical foot Compare thesis (sense 6)