trochee

[ troh-kee ]

/ ˈtroʊ ki /

noun Prosody.

a foot of two syllables, a long followed by a short in quantitative meter, or a stressed followed by an unstressed in accentual meter. Symbol:

Words nearby trochee

trochaic, trochal, trochanter, trochanterian, troche, trochee, trochelminth, trochilus, trochlea, trochlear, trochlear nerve

Origin of trochee

1580–90; < Latin trochaeus < Greek (poùs), trochaîos running (foot), equivalent to troch- (variant stem of tréchein to run) + -aios adj. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trochee

A Trochee is a two-syllable foot accented on the first syllable.
English: Composition and Literature|W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
The daintiest alternation of iambus and trochee is joined to the serpent's cunning in swiftly tripping dactyls.
Shandygaff|Christopher Morley
The choriambus is a verse-foot consisting of a trochee united with and preceding an iambus, -∪∪-.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3|Various
The weak feet are those which have the most short syllables or end in a short syllable; as the Pyrrhic, the Trochee, the Tribrach.
Dissertation on the English Language|Noah Webster, Jr.

In the iambic and trochaic metres other feet are often substituted for the iambus and the trochee, but without change of rhythm.
A History of Roman Literature|Harold North Fowler

British Dictionary definitions for trochee

trochee

/ (ˈtrəʊkiː) /

noun

prosody a metrical foot of two syllables, the first long and the second short (– ◡)Compare iamb

Word Origin for trochee

C16: via Latin from Greek trokhaios pous, literally: a running foot, from trekhein to run

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

trochee

noun Prosody.

Content related to trochee

Words nearby trochee

Origin of trochee

Examples from the Web for trochee

British Dictionary definitions for trochee

noun

Word Origin for trochee