pentameter [pen-tam -i-ter] Prosody
Examples Word Origin
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. Show More
consisting of five metrical feet. Show More
Origin of pentameter 1540–50; <
Latin pentametrus <
Greek pentámetros. See
penta- ,
meter2 Related forms pen·tam·e·trist , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pentameter Historical Examples of pentameter It is either hexameter or pentameter , according to the scansion?
For the quadrisyllable ending to the pentameter , see at ii 10 Alcinoo (p 164).
The subject of transit must be Olympias, since otherwise the pentameter is without a subject.
The more natural abest absitque cannot be placed in a pentameter .
The error was induced by nec at the start of the pentameter .
British Dictionary definitions for pentameter 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 Show More
designating a verse line consisting of five metrical feet Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for pentameter adj. 1540s, from Middle French pentametre , from Latin pentameter , from Greek pentametros (adj.) "having five measures," from pente "five" (see five ) + metron "meter" (see meter (n.2)). As a noun from 1580s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
