tetrameter

[te-tram-i-ter]

noun

1. Prosody.,  a verse of four feet.

2. Classical Prosody.,  a line consisting of four dipodies in trochaic, iambic, or anapestic meter.

adjective

1. Prosody.,  consisting of four metrical feet.

tetrameter

/ tɛˈtræmɪtə /

noun

1. a line of verse consisting of four metrical feet

2. a verse composed of such lines

3. (in classical prosody) a line of verse composed of four dipodies

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetrameter¹

1605–15; < Latin tetrametrus < Greek tetrámetros having four measures. See tetra-, meter ²

Example Sentences

“Trochaic tetrameter, more or less,” Penelope announced brightly, pushing her way past the waving feathers.

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This being so, Leithauser’s chapters cover such seemingly ho-hum subjects as iambic pentameter, iambic tetrameter, the stanza, enjambment, rhyming and wordplay.

Read more on Washington Post

There were monkeypods, “planted as seedlings no taller than chives,” as Mr. Merwin wrote, in impeccable dactylic tetrameter, in an essay in “What Is a Garden?,” which centers on his work in Hawaii.

Read more on New York Times

This is a variant on ballad measure, which is to say the stanza rhymes abcb and alternates tetrameter and trimeter phrasings.

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In turgid anapestic tetrameter, the poem lauds Trump as “a leader whose courage is true / Whose virtues are solid and long overdue.”

Read more on The New Yorker