tetrameter
Americannoun
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Prosody. a verse of four feet.
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Classical Prosody. a line consisting of four dipodies in trochaic, iambic, or anapestic meter.
adjective
noun
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a line of verse consisting of four metrical feet
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a verse composed of such lines
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(in classical prosody) a line of verse composed of four dipodies
Etymology
Origin of tetrameter
1605–15; < Latin tetrametrus < Greek tetrámetros having four measures. See tetra-, meter 2
Explanation
When a poem uses tetrameter, it includes lines of four metrical feet, or four stressed syllables. Many well-known poets and songwriters use tetrameter. You may have heard the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer — it's the one that goes "I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree." If that sounds familiar, then you already know what tetrameter sounds like. It's one of the most common ways to structure verse. From Emily Dickinson ("Because I could not stop for death/It kindly stopped for me") to the Beatles ("Picture yourself on a boat in a river"), you can find tetrameter almost anywhere!
Vocabulary lists containing tetrameter
Poetry: Structure and Meter
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - High School
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Craft and Structure (Unit 3)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This being so, Leithauser’s chapters cover such seemingly ho-hum subjects as iambic pentameter, iambic tetrameter, the stanza, enjambment, rhyming and wordplay.
From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2022
I wanted people to understand that she could write in perfect iambic tetrameter.
From Slate • Jan. 11, 2021
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.
From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2019
The regular trochaic tetrameter of these 14 lines gives the figure of Lizzie an emblematic solidity.
From The Guardian • Jun. 25, 2012
“Trochaic tetrameter, more or less,” Penelope announced brightly, pushing her way past the waving feathers.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
