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

In the succeeding specimen the same measure is used with feminine ending.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

The Hebrew form of the word, however, is not quite the same, the Assyrian feminine ending being absent.

From The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge

In the latter case, however, the first light syllable of line 5 is really supplied by the syllable added to make the feminine ending of line 4.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

Another feminine ending among the Anglo-Saxons was gith, which, as elsewhere noted, I have supposed to mean woman or goddess.

From Surnames as a Science by Ferguson, Robert

In the third place, the line may have a feminine ending.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald