Alcaic

American  

[al-key-ik] / ælˈkeɪ ɪk /

adjective

1. pertaining to Alcaeus or to certain meters or a form of strophe or stanza used by, or named after, him.

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noun

1. Alcaics, Alcaic verses or strophes.

Alcaic British  

/ ælˈkeɪɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a metre used by the 7th-century _bc Greek lyric poet Alcaeus, consisting of a strophe of four lines each with four feet

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noun

1. (usually plural) verse written in the Alcaic form

Etymology

Origin of Alcaic

1620–30; < Late Latin Alcaicus < Greek Alkaïkós, equivalent to Alka ( îos ) Alcaeus + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

For the place of the Alcaic there are various candidates.

From The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace by Conington, John

It was while there that Hölderlin as a boy of seventeen first made use of the Alcaic measure in which he subsequently wrote so many of his poems.

From Types of Weltschmerz in German Poetry by Braun, Wilhelm Alfred

Gray's Alcaic Ode.—A question asked in Vol. i., p.

From Notes and Queries, Number 62, January 4, 1851 by Various

Carducci, for example, calls the four Alcaic stanzas in question "una cosellina quasi perfetta," though they contain three third lines like these: Furore militis tremendo....

From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington

Gray's Alcaic Ode.—Can any of your readers say whether Gray's celebrated Latin ode is actually to be found entered at the Grande Chartreuse?

From Notes and Queries, Number 24, April 13, 1850 by Various