hemistich
Americannoun
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the exact or approximate half of a stich, or poetic verse or line, especially as divided by a caesura or the like.
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an incomplete line, or a line of less than the usual length.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hemistich
1565–75; < Late Latin hēmistichium < Greek hēmistíchion a half-verse. See hemi-, stich 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The concluding hemistich, whereby the hokku becomes the tanka, is existent in the writer's mind, but never uttered.
From Japanese Prints by Dorothy Pulis Lathrop
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 Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
The first hemistich still belongs to the threatening.
From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2 by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
A hemistich seems to be missing here, metrically.
From Genesis A Translated from the Old English by Lawrence Mason
The unstressed vowel at the hemistich, theoretically elided, is pronounced because of the natural pause intervening between the two parts of the verse.
From Frédéric Mistral Poet and Leader in Provence by Charles Alfred Downer
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