Spondee

2 definitions found

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

  Spondee \Spon"dee\ (sp[o^]n"d[=e]), n. [L. spondeus, Gr. ? (sc.
     ?), fr. ? a drink offering, libation, fr. ? to pour out, make
     a libation: cf. F. spond['e]e. So called because at libations
     slow, solemn melodies were used, chiefly in this meter.]
     (Pros.)
     A poetic foot of two long syllables, as in the Latin word


     l[=e]g[=e]s.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  spondee
       n : a metrical unit with stressed-stressed syllables