anapest

American  

[an-uh-pest] / ˈæn əˌpɛst /

Or anapaest

noun

Prosody.

1. a foot of three syllables, two short followed by one long in quantitative meter, and two unstressed followed by one stressed in accentual meter, as in for the nonce.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anapaestically
  adverb
• anapaestic
  adjective
• anapestically
  adverb
• anapestic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of anapest

1580–90; < Latin anapaestus < Greek anápaistos struck back, reversed (as compared with a dactyl), equivalent to ana- ana- + pais- (variant stem of paíein to strike) + -tos past participle suffix

Explanation

An anapest is a unit of poetry made up of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Some three-syllable words, like "contradict" and "interrupt," are anapests. The structure and rhythm of a poem comes from its meter, the pattern made by stressed and unstressed syllables or "metrical feet." An anapest, a unit three syllables with the stress on the last syllable, is the opposite of the more common dactyl, which instead stresses the first of three syllables. "A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore makes great use of anapests: "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house..."

Example Sentences

Anapest, a foot consisting of two unstresses and a stress, ◡ ◡ _̷, 38, 51, 70, 80 ff.

From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin

Those commonly accepted are: Iambus ⌣  —   Dactyl — ⌣⌣ Trochee — ⌣   Anapest ⌣ ⌣ — Spondee — —   Amphimacer — ⌣ — Amphibrach  ⌣ — ⌣ The dash stands for the accented syllable.

From Rhymes and Meters A Practical Manual for Versifiers by Winslow, Horatio

Why should not I accomplish a manikin which shall preach as original discourses as the Rev. Dr. Allchin, or talk poetry as mechanically as Paul Anapest?

From Stories by American Authors, Volume 5 by James, Henry

An Anapest is a three-syllable foot accented on the last syllable.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)