hemistich

[ hem-i-stik ]

/ ˈhɛm ɪˌstɪk /

noun Prosody.

the exact or approximate half of a stich, or poetic verse or line, especially as divided by a caesura or the like.

an incomplete line, or a line of less than the usual length.

Nearby words

hemispasm, hemisphere, hemispheric, hemispherical, hemispheroid, hemistich, hemisystole, hemiterpene, hemithorax, hemitrope, hemivertebra

Origin of hemistich

1565–75; < Late Latin hēmistichium < Greek hēmistíchion a half-verse. See hemi-, stich¹

Related forms

he·mis·ti·chal

[huh-mis-ti-kuh l, hem-i-stik-uh l] /həˈmɪs tɪ kəl, ˈhɛm ɪˌstɪk əl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hemistich

The sub-type A3 is type A with alliteration on the second arsis only and is limited almost entirely to the first hemistich.
A History of English Versification|Jakob Schipper
I have composed the first hemistich of a verse, but cannot finish it, although it has occupied my mind for some days.'
A Boswell of Baghdad|E. V. Lucas
The last line has the regular number of syllables, but double inversion of accent in the first hemistich.
A History of English Versification|Jakob Schipper
The sectional rhyme, so called because it consists of two rhyming words within one section or hemistich.
A History of English Versification|Jakob Schipper

Type B, according to Sievers, occurs 1014 times in Beowulf, of which 293 are in the first hemistich and 721 in the second.
A History of English Versification|Jakob Schipper

British Dictionary definitions for hemistich

hemistich

/ (ˈhɛmɪˌstɪk) /

noun

prosody a half line of verse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012