Hexameter - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Hexameter :  (noun)

1: a verse line having six metrical feet

Based on WordNet 2.0

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 [AE]neid 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.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Hexameter : \Hex*am"e*ter\, a. Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees. --Holland.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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