Pentameter

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pentameter \Pen*tam"e*ter\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; ? (see {Penta-})
     + ? measure.] (Gr. & L.Pros.)
     A verse of five feet.
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     Note: The dactylic pentameter consists of two parts separated


           by a di[ae]resis. Each part consists of two dactyls and
           a long syllable. The spondee may take the place of the
           dactyl in the first part, but not in the second. The
           elegiac distich consists of the hexameter followed by
           the pentameter. --Harkness.
           [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pentameter \Pen*tam"e*ter\, a.
     Having five metrical feet.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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     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.
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     2. Metrical arrangement and language; that which is composed
        in metrical form; versification; poetry.
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              Such prompt eloquence
              Flowed from their lips in prose or numerous verse.
                                                    --Milton.
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              Virtue was taught in verse.           --Prior.
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              Verse embalms virtue.                 --Donne.
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     3. A short division of any composition. Specifically: 
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        (a) A stanza; a stave; as, a hymn of four verses.
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     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.
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        (b) (Script.) One of the short divisions of the chapters
            in the Old and New Testaments.
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     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.
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        (c) (Mus.) A portion of an anthem to be performed by a
            single voice to each part.
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     4. A piece of poetry. "This verse be thine." --Pope.
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     {Blank verse}, poetry in which the lines do not end in
        rhymes.
  
     {Heroic verse}. See under {Heroic}.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pentameter
       n : a verse line having five metrical feet