iambus

American  

[ahy-am-buhs] / aɪˈæm bəs /

noun

iambi, plural iambuses plural

1. iamb.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• iambi
  plural
• iambuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of iambus

1580–90; < Latin < Greek íambos

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

iambus iambi iambuses

It is almost wholly destitute of quantity, and the intonation which supplies that want is of such a kind that hardly any foot but the iambus is possible in it.

From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George

Never take an iambus for a Christian name.

From The Art of Letters by Lynd, Robert

“And yēt,” is a complete iambus; but anyet is, like spirit, a dibrach u u, trocheized, however, by the arsis or first accent damping, though not extinguishing, the second.

From Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

The choriambus is a verse-foot consisting of a trochee united with and preceding an iambus, -∪∪-.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

Only we must be careful that by "iambus," in English poetry, we meant an unstressed syllable, rather than a short syllable followed by a long one.

From A Study of Poetry by Perry, Bliss

Certainly those sun-burnt "doughboys" were not bothering themselves about trochees and iambi and such toys of cultivated "literary" persons; they were amusing themselves on the march by inventing words to fit the "goose-step."

From A Study of Poetry by Perry, Bliss

Here the tendency is to use iambi and anapests in alternate feet; see especially lines 2, 3, and 5.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

Here frequent iambi are substituted for anapests; as in line 1, second and fourth feet; lines 2 and 3, fifth foot; line 5, third foot.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

These specimens, as is usual in anapestic verse, show considerable freedom in the treatment of the part of the foot containing the light syllables, substituted iambi being very common.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

Robert darted to the door, and rushed to the inn, leaving Caumill describing iambi on the road behind him.

From Robert Falconer by MacDonald, George

Thus we have learned to scan lines by iambuses, or rather by their accentual imitations, and a perfect line would consist of ten syllables, of which the alternate ones bore a rhythmical stress.

From The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] Introduction and Publisher's Advertising by Clark, William George

It was not by chance that the line of five iambuses became the dominant metre of our language.

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips)

But the tendency of the Alexandrine consisting merely of the usual iambuses, is to convey slowness—although it conveys this idea feebly, on account of conveying it indirectly.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 by Conrad, Robert Taylor

Trimeter iambus, consisting of six feet, which are generally all iambuses.

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John

It does not have to consist of five iambuses only, but other feet may be substituted almost at the caprice of the poet.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Mordell, Albert