trochee

/ˈtɹəʊki/

Etymology

Borrowed from French trochée, via Latin trochaeus from the Ancient Greek τροχαῖος (trokhaîos), derived from τρέχω (trékhō, “run”).

trochee means A metrical foot in verse consisting of a stressed or heavy syllable followed by an unstressed or light syllable. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

TROCHEE — [Noun] A metrical foot in poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. From the Ancient Greek τροχαῖος (trokhaîos, "running"), derived from τρέχω (trékhō, "to run"). Unlike the iamb (which climbs, unstressed to stressed, in a questioning rise) or the spondee (which lands with two equal, declarative stresses), the trochee asserts and then recedes. It is the sound of galloping hooves on hard earth, the percussive rhythm of a heartbeat, the heavy fall of a boot into soft earth. This running footfall, always beginning with weight, gives language a forward tumble, a small, metrical model of impact and its inevitable dissipation.

noun

A metrical foot in verse consisting of a stressed or heavy syllable followed by an unstressed or light syllable.“‘He made us read James Fenton on the genius of the trochee.’”