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hexameter

[ hek-sam-i-ter ]
/ hɛkˈsæm ɪ tər /
Prosody
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noun
a dactylic line of six feet, as in Greek and Latin epic poetry, in which the first four feet are dactyls or spondees, the fifth is ordinarily a dactyl, and the last is a trochee or spondee, with a caesura usually following the long syllable in the third foot.
any line of verse in six feet, as in English poetry.
adjective
consisting of six metrical feet.
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Origin of hexameter

1540–50; <Latin <Greek hexámetros of six measures, equivalent to hexa-hexa- + métr(on) measure + -os adj. suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM hexameter

hex·a·met·ric [hek-suh-me-trik], /ˌhɛk səˈmɛ trɪk/, hex·a·met·ri·cal, hex·am·e·tral, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hexameter in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hexameter

hexameter
/ (hɛkˈsæmɪtə) /

noun prosody
a verse line consisting of six metrical feet
(in Greek and Latin epic poetry) a verse line of six metrical feet, of which the first four are usually dactyls or spondees, the fifth almost always a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee or trochee

Derived forms of hexameter

hexametric (ˌhɛksəˈmɛtrɪk), hexametral or hexametrical, adjective
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
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