pentameter

[ pen-tam-i-ter ]

/ pɛnˈtæm ɪ tər /

Prosody

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noun

a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet.

Also called elegiac pentameter. Classical Prosody. a verse consisting of two dactyls, one long syllable, two more dactyls, and another long syllable.

unrhymed verse of five iambic feet; heroic verse.

adjective

consisting of five metrical feet.

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Origin of pentameter

1540–50; <Latin pentametrus<Greek pentámetros.See penta-, meter²

OTHER WORDS FROM pentameter

pen·tam·e·trist, noun

Words nearby pentameter

pentahydrate, pentahydric, pentahydroxy, pentalpha, pentamerous, pentameter, pentamethylene, pentamethylenediamine, pentamidine, pentane, pentangle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pentameter in a sentence

The lovers speak entirely in iambic pentameter, which works much better than it should.
Jude Law in Drag|Caryn James|September 23, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The alternate hexameter and pentameter are, for most purposes, a more agreeable measure than the hexameter by itself.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
If these verses were composed in good Latinity, the first word of the pentameter probably was justitiam.
Notes and Queries, Number 241, June 10, 1854|Various
The meter is iambic pentameter; but the first foot of the second line is a trochee, and emphasizes thoughts with fine effect.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism|F. V. N. Painter

It consists of nine verses, the first eight being iambic pentameter, and the ninth line iambic hexameter, or Alexandrine.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism|F. V. N. Painter
Unrhymed poetry, usually in iambic pentameter measure, is known as blank verse.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism|F. V. N. Painter

British Dictionary definitions for pentameter

pentameter

/ (pɛnˈtæmɪtə) /

noun

a verse line consisting of five metrical feet

(in classical prosody) a verse line consisting of two dactyls, one stressed syllable, two dactyls, and a final stressed syllable

adjective

designating a verse line consisting of five metrical feet

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