feminine ending

American  

noun

1. Prosody.  an unaccented syllable at the close of a line of poetry, often one that is added to the metrical pattern as an extra syllable.

2. Grammar.  a termination or final syllable marking a feminine word: In Latin -ā is a feminine ending for the ablative case in the singular.

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feminine ending British  

noun

1. prosody an unstressed syllable at the end of a line of verse

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Etymology

Origin of feminine ending

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

But the radio station also noted that most linguists in the country backed the current rules on names, arguing that the feminine ending was central to Czech grammar and could lead to confusion.

From BBC

Like Spanish, it is a gendered language, in which every noun has a masculine or feminine ending.

From New York Times

Half the terms were masculine—they ended in ‘o’—the other half feminine, ending in ‘a’.

From Scientific American

The word "water" appears in every segment of the poem, three times forming a line's feminine ending.

From The Guardian

Ms. Treem, a writer on the television series “House of Cards” and “In Treatment,” has written several plays including “A Feminine Ending,” which was produced at Playwrights Horizons in 2007.

From New York Times