amphibrachic en · ADJ
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin amphibrachicus. By surface analysis, amphibrach + -ic.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Consisting of amphibrachs, metrical feet consisting of either a long syllable between two that are short, or an accented syllable between two that are not accented.
Father Humphrey says, "Anapaestic and amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous^([sic]) compositions; and sometimes to elegiac compositions, and subjects important and solemn."
1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars, 6th edition:[…]she will grow up to have long hair, a knack for the violin, an anonymous male admirer who writes her love poetry in amphibrachic tetrameter, and a son who dies in battle[…].
1988 December 23, Albert Williams, “Melissa, While She Sleeps”, in Chicago Reader:
Deriveds
Translations (4)
eo amfibraĥa (consisting of amphibrachs) · pt anfibráquico (consisting of amphibrachs) · pl amfibrachiczny (consisting of amphibrachs) · pt anfíbraco (consisting of amphibrachs)