iamb

[ ahy-am, ahy-amb ]
See synonyms for iamb on Thesaurus.com
nounProsody.
  1. a foot of two syllables, a short followed by a long in quantitative meter, or an unstressed followed by a stressed in accentual meter, as in Come live / with me / and be / my love.

Origin of iamb

1
First recorded in 1835–45; short for iambus

Words Nearby iamb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use iamb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for iamb

iamb

iambus (aɪˈæmbəs)

/ (ˈaɪæm, ˈaɪæmb) /


nounplural iambs, iambi (aɪˈæmbaɪ) or iambuses prosody
  1. a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, a short one followed by a long one (◡ –)

  2. a line of verse of such feet

Origin of iamb

1
C19 iamb, from C16 iambus, from Latin, from Greek iambos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012