hexameter








noun

  1. a dactylic line of six feet, as in Greek and Latin epic poetry, in which the first four feet are dactyls or spondees, the fifth is ordinarily a dactyl, and the last is a trochee or spondee, with a caesura usually following the long syllable in the third foot.
  2. any line of verse in six feet, as in English poetry.

adjective

  1. consisting of six metrical feet.

noun prosody

  1. a verse line consisting of six metrical feet
  2. (in Greek and Latin epic poetry) a verse line of six metrical feet, of which the first four are usually dactyls or spondees, the fifth almost always a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee or trochee
adj.

1540s, from Latin hexameter, from Greek hexametros, from hex “six” (see hexa-) + metron “meter” (see meter (n.2)). As a noun from 1570s. Related: Hexametric.

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