noun
- a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet.
- Also called elegiac pentameter. Classical Prosody. a verse consisting of two dactyls, one long syllable, two more dactyls, and another long syllable.
- unrhymed verse of five iambic feet; heroic verse.
adjective
- consisting of five metrical feet.
noun
- a verse line consisting of five metrical feet
- (in classical prosody) a verse line consisting of two dactyls, one stressed syllable, two dactyls, and a final stressed syllable
adjective
- designating a verse line consisting of five metrical feet
adj.1540s, from Middle French pentametre, from Latin pentameter, from Greek pentametros (adj.) “having five measures,” from pente “five” (see five) + metron “meter” (see meter (n.2)). As a noun from 1580s.