hexameter

[ hek-sam-i-ter ]
/ hɛkˈsæm ɪ tər /
Prosody

noun

a dactylic line of six feet, as in Greek and Latin epic poetry, in which the first four feet are dactyls or spondees, the fifth is ordinarily a dactyl, and the last is a trochee or spondee, with a caesura usually following the long syllable in the third foot.
any line of verse in six feet, as in English poetry.

adjective

consisting of six metrical feet.

Origin of hexameter

1540–50; < Latin < Greek hexámetros of six measures, equivalent to hexa- hexa- + métr(on) measure + -os adj. suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM hexameter

hex·a·met·ric [hek-suh-me-trik] /ˌhɛk səˈmɛ trɪk/, hex·a·met·ri·cal, hex·am·e·tral, adjective

Words nearby hexameter

hexahydroxycyclohexane, hexamer, hexameral, hexameron, hexamerous, hexameter, hexamethonium, hexamethylene, hexamethylenetetramine, hexamine, hexanaphthene

Example sentences from the Web for hexameter

British Dictionary definitions for hexameter

hexameter
/ (hɛkˈsæmɪtə) /

noun prosody

a verse line consisting of six metrical feet
(in Greek and Latin epic poetry) a verse line of six metrical feet, of which the first four are usually dactyls or spondees, the fifth almost always a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee or trochee

Derived forms of hexameter

hexametric (ˌhɛksəˈmɛtrɪk), hexametral or hexametrical, adjective