hexameter Meaning, Definition & Usage

Hex*am"e*ter noun

Etymology

L., fr. Gr. of six meters; (sc. ) hexameter verse; six + measure: cf. F. hexamètre. See Six, and Meter.

Definitions

1. (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 Æneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity.

   Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland the | voice of the | huntsman. Longfellow.

   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.

Hex*am"e*ter adjective

Definitions

1. Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees. Holland.