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
It begins in boldly impressionistic, even imagistic, style, as the salient features of the scene are listed in lines of lightly-flowing tetrameter.
From The Guardian • Apr. 22, 2013
“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.
