anapest
or an·a·paest
[ an-uh-pest ]
/ ˈæn əˌpɛst /
|
noun Prosody.
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.
Nearby words
ananias, anankastic personality, ananke, ananthous, anapaest, anapest, anaphase, anaphia, anaphora, anaphoresis, anaphoria
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
Related forms
an·a·pes·tic, an·a·paes·tic, adjectivean·a·pes·ti·cal·ly, an·a·paes·ti·cal·ly, adverbDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for anapaest
"Home," by Margaret Mahon, is a poem in that rather popular modern measure which seems to waver betwixt the iambus and anapaest.
Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922|Howard Phillips LovecraftAgain, I should say, anapaestic—but this anapaest and amphibrach quarrel is ἄσπονδος.
The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge|Samuel Taylor Coleridge
British Dictionary definitions for anapaest
anapaest
anapest
/ (ˈænəpɛst, -piːst) /
noun
prosody a metrical foot of three syllables, the first two short, the last long (◡ ◡ –)
Derived Forms
anapaestic or anapestic, adjectiveWord Origin for anapaest
C17: via Latin from Greek anapaistos reversed (that is, a dactyl reversed), from anapaiein, from ana- back + paiein to strike
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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