hexameter

See also: Hexameter

English

Alternative forms

• hexametre

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἑξάμετρος (hexámetros). Equivalent to hexa- +‎ meter. Piecewise doublet of sexameter.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: he‧xa‧me‧ter

Noun

hexameter (countable and uncountable, plural hexameters)

1. (countable) A line in a poem having six metrical feet.
   • 1908, Walter Wilson Greg, “[Preface]”, in G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wives Tale, 1595, [Oxford, Oxfordshire]: […] [F]or the Malone Society by Horace Hart […], at the Oxford University Press, published 1965, →OCLC, page vi:

     The date of composition is pretty certainly about 1590, a date suggested by the burlesque hexameters of Huanebango.

2. (uncountable) A poetic metre in which each line has six feet.

Synonyms

• sexameter (rare)

Derived terms

• hexametrist

Related terms

• hexametral
• hexametric
• hexametrize

Translations

line in a poem

• Catalan: hexàmetre m
• Dutch: hexameter (nl) m, zesvoetig vers n
• Esperanto: heksametro
• French: hexasyllabe (fr) m
• Galician: hexámetro m
• Hungarian: hexameter (hu)
• Italian: esametro (it)
• Latin: hexameter
• Polish: heksametr (pl) m
• Romanian: hexametru (ro) m
• Russian: гекза́метр (ru) m (gekzámetr)
• Slovak: hexameter
• Spanish: hexámetro m
• Swedish: hexameter (sv) c

poetic metre

• Catalan: hexàmetre m
• French: hexamètre (fr) m
• Galician: hexámetro m
• Hungarian: hexameter (hu)
• Italian: esametro (it)
• Latin: hexameter
• Polish: heksametr (pl)
• Romanian: hexametru (ro) m
• Russian: гекза́метр (ru) m (gekzámetr)
• Slovak: hexameter
• Spanish: hexámetro m
• Swedish: hexameter (sv) c

See also

• (poetic meter) monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, octameter, enneameter, decameter, hendecameter, dodecameter ^{(Category: en:Prosody)}

Anagrams

• hexametre

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hexameter, from Ancient Greek ἑξάμετρος (hexámetros).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɛkˈsaː.meː.tər/, /ɦɛkˈsaː.meː.tɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: he‧xa‧me‧ter

Noun

hexameter m (plural hexameters, no diminutive)

1. hexameter

   Wie ook deze discours snapt, zal weten dat mij slechts dactylisch hexameter vertrouwd is en niets anders, geef me toch vrijheid!

   Who also understands this exposition, will know that only dactylic hexameter is familiar to me and nothing else, give me liberty!

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs

Proto-Hellenic *hwéks

Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx)

Ancient Greek ἑξᾰ- (hexă-)

Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Hellenic *-tron

Ancient Greek -τρον (-tron)

Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron)

Ancient Greek -ος (-os)

Ancient Greek ἑξάμετρος (hexámetros)bor.

Latin hexameter

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἑξάμετρος (hexámetros).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [hɛkˈsa.mɛ.tɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [eɡˈzaː.me.ter]

Noun

hexameter m (genitive hexametrī); second declension

1. hexameter

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

	singular	plural
nominative	hexameter	hexametrī
genitive	hexametrī	hexametrōrum
dative	hexametrō	hexametrīs
accusative	hexametrum	hexametrōs
ablative	hexametrō	hexametrīs
vocative	hexameter	hexametrī

References

• “hexameter”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “hexameter”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “hexameter”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.