Why “ictus” is a great word
A sudden, rhythmic blow or stroke, whether physical, medical, or metrical. From Latin ictus ("a blow, stroke, thrust, beat"), from the verb īco ("to hit, strike"). Unlike "accent," which pins stress to a syllable's location, or "seizure," a clinical term for neural storm, ictus spans the visceral and the structured—the dread finality of a sunstroke, the violent clench of a muscle, the conductor's baton striking the downbeat into silence. It is the hammer on an anvil, the spasmodic jerk of a limb, the pulse that divides time into measurable griefs—the fundamental shock from which rhythm, and ruin, begin.