amoebaean

Or am·oe·be·an

[am-uh-bee-uhn]

adjective

Prosody.

1. alternately responsive, as verses in dialogue.

amoebaean

/ ˌæmɪˈbiːən /

adjective

1. prosody of or relating to lines of verse dialogue that answer each other alternately

Word History and Origins

Origin of amoebaean¹

1650–60; < Latin amoebae ( us ) antiphonal (< Greek amoibaîos interchanging, equivalent to amoib ( ḗ ) alternation ( ameba ) + -aios adj. suffix) + -an

Example Sentences

The rapid elliptic method of amoebaean dialogue is more in his manner than in any English poet's known to me except the writer of this scene; but indeed Marston is in more points than one the most Italian of our dramatists.

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This kind of Amoebaean dialogue was early ridiculed by the ingenious author of "Hudibras."

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Between the lines of these mutual recitals sweet, fresh echoes of the old, old story went from heart to heart, an amoebaean love-bout like that of spring birds calling tenderly back and forth in the blooming Maytime woods.

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