1580s, of a line of verse, "wanting an unaccented syllable in the last foot," from Late Latin catalecticus, from Greek katalektikos "leaving off," from kata "down" (see cata-) + legein "to leave off, cease from," from PIE root *sleg- "be slack, be languid." A complete line is said to be acatalectic.
cataclysm
cataclysmic
catacomb
catafalque
Catalan
catalectic
catalepsy
cataleptic
catalog
catalogue
Catalonian