paeon

American  

[pee-uhn, -on] / ˈpi ən, -ɒn /

noun

1. Classical Prosody. a foot of one long and three short syllables in any order.

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paeon British  

/ ˈpiːən /

noun

1. prosody a metrical foot of four syllables, with one long one and three short ones in any order

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• paeonic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of paeon

1595–1605; < Latin paeōn < Greek paiōn, Attic variant of paiā́n; see paean

Example Sentences

And then the movie – like all the great John Hughes movies, a paeon to the ambiguities of youth; the pleasures, the agonisies, the clothes, oh sweet Jesus the clothes.

From The Guardian • May 29, 2014

Instead it is a heart-wringing paeon to homesickness.

From The Guardian • May 30, 2010

But both parties seem to be equally mistaken: for those who exclude the paeon, are not aware that they reject the sweetest and fullest number we have.

From Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. by Jones, E.

Classical prosody distinguished several other feet, some of which are occasionally mentioned in treatises on English verse: amphibrach ◡_◡, tribrach ◡◡◡, pyrrhic ◡◡, paeon _◡◡◡, choriamb _◡◡_.

From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin

But the paeon is that foot which, of all others, is least adapted to verse, on which account oratory admits it the more willingly.

From The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 by Cicero, Marcus Tullius