distich
Americannoun
-
a unit of two lines of verse, usually a self-contained statement; couplet.
-
a rhyming couplet.
noun
Other Word Forms
- distichal adjective
- subdistich noun
Etymology
Origin of distich
1545–55; < Latin distichon, noun use of neuter of Greek dístichos having two lines, equivalent to di- di- 1 + stíchos row
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The seven sciences of the accomplished gentleman were those so well known, comprised in the scholastic distich.
From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac
These dates are given in the following memorial distich with a frank indifference to quantity and metre— “Vult Crux, Lucia, Cinis, Charismata dia Quod det vota pia quarta sequens feria.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various
I recall from one of these a distich of some merit.
From Reminiscences, 1819-1899 by Howe, Julia Ward
In the model distich quoted by Coleridge— "In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column, In the pentameter still falling in melody back;" the pentameter is a better verse than the hexameter.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846 by Various
A. "By writing to his Holiness this distich: 'Laus tua, non tua fraus, virtus, non copia rerum, Scandere te fecit hoc decus eximium.'"
From Notes and Queries, Number 84, June 7, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc. by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
