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trochaic

[troh-key-ik]Prosody
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adjective
  1. pertaining to the trochee.
  2. consisting of or employing a trochee or trochees.
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noun
  1. a trochee.
  2. Usually trochaics. a verse or poem written in trochees.
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Origin of trochaic

1580–90; < Latin trochaicus < Greek trochaïkós, equivalent to trocha(îos) trochee + -ikos -ic
Related formstro·cha·i·cal·ly, adverbun·tro·cha·ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trochaic

Historical Examples

  • Shelley's To a Skylark is in trochaic metre of 3-stress and 6-stress lines.

    The Principles of English Versification

    Paull Franklin Baum

  • The last line, however, full of tenderness and sadness, is trochaic.

  • Trochaic metre is often read, as if it were a kind of crude iambic.

  • The Greek trochaic tetrameter, similarly, contains eight trochees, the English 'trochaic tetrameter' but four.

  • It does not admit of frequent substitutions, for many substitutions destroy the trochaic effect.

British Dictionary definitions for trochaic

trochaic

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or consisting of trochees
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noun
  1. another word for trochee
  2. a verse composed of trochees
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Derived Formstrochaically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for trochaic

adj.

1580s, from French trochaïque (1540s) or directly from Latin trochaicus, from Greek trokhaikos, from trokhaios (see trochee).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper