hexameter

American  

[hek-sam-i-ter] / hɛkˈsæm ɪ tər /

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.

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adjective

1. consisting of six metrical feet.

hexameter British  

/ hɛkˈsæmɪtə, ˌhɛksəˈmɛtrɪk /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hexametral
  adjective
• hexametric
  adjective
• hexametrical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of hexameter

1540–50; < Latin < Greek hexámetros of six measures, equivalent to hexa- hexa- + métr ( on ) measure + -os adj. suffix

Explanation

If the poem you're reading has lines with six metrical feet each, it's written in hexameter — and it's very likely to be a Latin or Greek classic like The Iliad since hexameter was most commonly used in classical epic poetry. Poems using only hexameter lines are unusual, though not unheard of, in English poetry; more often, hexameter lines are included in verse that is mainly written in pentameter. It's challenging to fit English into a classical version of hexameter, which follows specific rules about exactly what kinds of metric feet must be used and in what order. This form was much better suited to Greek and Latin. The word hexameter comes from the Greek hexametros and its roots, hex, "six," and metron, "poetic meter."

Example Sentences

Among the five who qualified was Alvin Untermyer's Hexameter, ridden by Patricia Bolling, a 99-lb., 22-year-old wisp whom many experts consider the most skillful young horsewoman in the U. S. today.

From Time Magazine Archive

Though Hexameter was nosed out of victory by his stablemate, Illuminator, spectators who had kept their eyes on the horses agreed that Liz Whitney had lost her reign.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hexameter verses in a superior style of penmanship, namely, the old Latin rustic, record the history of the book, and give the scribe’s name as Godeman, perhaps the Abbot of Thorney, who began A.D.

From Anglo-Saxon Literature by Earle, John

Hexameter verse is employed for all the Silvae except six.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by Middleton, George

"My Dear," says Father, "that's a Hexameter: do try to make another."

From Mary Powell & Deborah's Diary by Manning, Anne