anabasis
/əˈnæbəsɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.78 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A military march up-country, especially that of Cyrus the Younger into Asia.
Example Sentences
- "During the French anabasis to Moscow he entered our service, made himself a prodigious favorite with the whole imperial family, and even now is only in his twenty−second year."
- "‘I have a feeling that if we follow a scent of spring on the air with sufficient eagerness we’ll come to a south without snow more quickly than we think. Thalassa, thalassa. This is what the Greeks called an anabasis.’ They looked at him as if he were barmy."
- "The Wordsworthian journey to the source […] is more of an amble than an anabasis or strenuous heroic quest."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀνάβασις (anábasis, “a going up, an ascent”), from ἀναβαίνω (anabaínō), from ᾰ̓νᾰ- (ănă-, “up”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”). Compare typologically Proto-West Germanic *raisu (“a travel, journey”) (akin to Proto-Germanic *raizijaną (“to cause (someone, something) to rise; raise”)) (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ἀνάβασις
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /əˈnæbəsɪs/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military.