hexameter

Noun

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. a verse line having six metrical feet
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Hexameter \Hex*am"e*ter\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? of six meters; (sc. ?) hexameter verse; "e`x six + ? measure: cf. F. hexam[`e]tre. See Six, and Meter.] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Iliad of Homer and the Aeneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity. [1913 Webster]

Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland the | voice of the | huntsman. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]

Strongly it | bears us a- | long on | swelling and | limitless | billows, Nothing be- | fore and | nothing be- | hind but the | sky and the | ocean. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]

Hexameter \Hex*am"e*ter\, a. Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees. --Holland. Hexametric
Verse \Verse\ (v[~e]rs), n. [OE. vers, AS. fers, L. versus a line in writing, and, in poetry, a verse, from vertere, versum, to turn, to turn round; akin to E. worth to become: cf. F. vers. See Worth to become, and cf. Advertise, Averse, Controversy, Convert, Divers, Invert, Obverse, Prose, Suzerain, Vortex.]

1.A line consisting of a certain number of metrical feet (see Foot, n., 9) disposed according to metrical rules. [1913 Webster]

Note: Verses are of various kinds, as hexameter, pentameter, tetrameter, etc., according to the number of feet in each. A verse of twelve syllables is called an Alexandrine. Two or more verses form a stanza or strophe. [1913 Webster]

2.Metrical arrangement and language; that which is composed in metrical form; versification; poetry. [1913 Webster]

Such prompt eloquence Flowed from their lips in prose or numerous verse.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
Virtue was taught in verse.— Prior.[1913 Webster]
Verse embalms virtue.— Donne.[1913 Webster]

3.A short division of any composition. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) A stanza; a stave; as, a hymn of four verses. [1913 Webster]

Note: Although this use of verse is common, it is objectionable, because not always distinguishable from the stricter use in the sense of a line. [1913 Webster] (b) (Script.) One of the short divisions of the chapters in the Old and New Testaments. [1913 Webster]

Note: The author of the division of the Old Testament into verses is not ascertained. The New Testament was divided into verses by Robert Stephens [or Estienne], a French printer. This arrangement appeared for the first time in an edition printed at Geneva, in 1551. [1913 Webster] (c) (Mus.) A portion of an anthem to be performed by a single voice to each part. [1913 Webster]

4.A piece of poetry. "This verse be thine." --Pope. [1913 Webster]

Blank verse, poetry in which the lines do not end in rhymes.

Heroic verse. See under Heroic. [1913 Webster]

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