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

On this account some speak of three accents in the first half line, with a feminine ending.

From The Nibelungenlied by Shumway, Daniel Bussier

Father = patr‑o; suf. -in denotes feminine; ending -a makes it an adjective. 2In crowds.

From International Language Past, Present and Future: With Specimens of Esperanto and Grammar by Clark, Walter John

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 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

In the second stanza we have the same measure with feminine ending.

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