pentameter
/pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/
pentameter means A line in a poem having five metrical feet. It carries an Arena rating of 1579, earned across 90 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, pentameter ranks #1,351 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #6,265 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #6,946 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #7,719 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
pentameter is pronounced /pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/.
Why “pentameter” is a great word
PENTAMETER — [Noun] A line of verse consisting of five metrical feet, or the poetic meter characterized by such lines. From Middle French pentamètre, from Latin pentameter, from Greek pentametros, from penta- ("five") + metron ("measure"). Unlike tetrameter (which skips with a lighter, ballad-like cadence) or hexameter (which strides with an epic, oracular weight), pentameter is the walking pace of human speech in its most deliberate and elevated form. It is the natural breath of the soliloquy, the steady heartbeat beneath a sonnet, and the measured footfall in an empty hall—the foundational measure by which we have taught our deepest thoughts to walk.
Etymology
From Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter.
noun
- A line in a poem having five metrical feet.e.g.“The best verses, more especially pentameters, are written on the principle of attracting and fixing the attention to their close.” — 1822, Robert Bland, Elements of Latin Hexameters and Pentameters, third edition, London: John Robinson, page vi:
- Poetic metre in which each line has five feet.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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