heptameter

American  

[hep-tam-i-ter] / hɛpˈtæm ɪ tər /

noun

Prosody.

1. a verse of seven metrical feet.

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heptameter British  

/ ˌhɛptəˈmɛtrɪkəl, hɛpˈtæmɪtə /

noun

1. prosody a verse line of seven metrical feet

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Other Word Forms

• heptametrical adjective

Etymology

Origin of heptameter

1895–1900; < Medieval Latin heptametrum < Greek heptámetron a verse of seven feet. See hepta-, meter ²

Example Sentences

“At first glance, it appears to be rhyming quatrains in iambic heptameter.”

From Literature

Usually it is told in a sequence of quatrains, with one rhyme to a stanza, and usually the line is the iambic heptameter—or rather the stanza consists of two iambic tetrameters and two iambic trimeters.

From Project Gutenberg

The former is trochaic—the latter is octameter acatalectic, alternating with heptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrameter catalectic.

From Project Gutenberg

Heptameter, hep′tam-e-tėr, n. a verse of seven measures.

From Project Gutenberg

Librettist Jeremy Gury preserved the 13 stanzas of iambic heptameter intact, but also worked up a good deal of added story business besides two more stanzas.

From Time Magazine Archive