pen|tam|e|ter

pen|tam|e|ter «pehn TAM uh tuhr», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. a) poetry having five metrical feet or measures in each line. Example: “A lít/tle léarn/ing ís/ a dań/ g'rous thíng.” b) = iambic pentameter (Cf. ↑iambic pentameter) (the measure of heroic verse, rhymed or unrhymed, and the heroic couplet in English literature).

2. a line in ancient Greek and Latin verse consisting of two feet (either dactyls or spondees), a long syllable, two more dactyls, and another long syllable. When this line is alternated with a hexameter line the resulting form is an elegiac.

–adj.

consisting of five metrical feet or measures.

╂[< Latin pentameter, noun < Greek pentámetros having five metrical feet < pénte five + métron measure]