hemistich

American  

[hem-i-stik] / ˈhɛm ɪˌstɪk /

noun

Prosody.

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

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

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hemistich British  

/ ˈhɛmɪˌstɪk /

noun

1. prosody a half line of verse

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Other Word Forms

• hemistichal adjective

Etymology

Origin of hemistich

1565–75; < Late Latin hēmistichium < Greek hēmistíchion a half-verse. See hemi-, stich ¹

Example Sentences

One of its peculiarities is a hemistich replacing the expected fourth line of the stanza, which is of eight verses, with singularly musical effect.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George

This line is apparently imperfect, metrically, for the second hemistich seems to be wanting.

From Genesis A Translated from the Old English by Mason, Lawrence

Defective metre and sense, owing to the loss of a hemistich, but the sense is complete.

From Genesis A Translated from the Old English by Mason, Lawrence

In the first hemistich we have to supply: will be His appearance in its loveliness and saving importance.

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm

The Luccan and Umbrian stornello is much shorter, consisting indeed of a hemistich having some natural object which suggests the motive of the little poem.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward