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
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
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
In 1964 Nabokov produced a translation of Eugene Onegin, a work composed of 389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter, for a nonprofit scholarly press.
From Slate • Dec. 20, 2016
Each eight-line stanza has two foreshortened trimeter lines, after which the basic tetrameter rhythm is restored.
From The Guardian • Dec. 20, 2010
“Well done! You are natural-born poets, each and every one of you. Of course, iambic pentameter should not be confused with anapestic tetrameter, as I am sure you already know. Would anyone care to demonstrate?”
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.
