iambic

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to iambic: Iambic pentameter, Iambic meter, Iambic tetrameter

i·am·bic

(ī-ăm′bĭk)

adj.

Consisting of iambs or characterized by their predominance: iambic pentameter.

1. An iamb.

2. often iambics A verse, stanza, or poem written in iambs.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

iambic

(aɪˈæmbɪk) prosody

adj

1. (Poetry) of, relating to, consisting of, or using an iamb or iambs

2. (Poetry) (in Greek literature) denoting a type of satirical verse written in iambs

3. (Poetry) a metrical foot, line, or stanza of verse consisting of iambs

4. (Poetry) a type of ancient Greek satirical verse written in iambs

iˈambically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

i•am•bic

(aɪˈæm bɪk)

adj.

1. pertaining to, consisting of, or employing iambs.

2. of or designating Greek satirical poetry written in iambs.

a. an iamb.

b. Usu., iambics. a verse or poem consisting of iambs.

4. a satirical Greek poem in this meter.

[1565–75; < Latin < Greek]

iambic

A metrical foot of two syllables with the second accented.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	iambic - a verse line consisting of iambs verse line, verse - a line of metrical text
Adj.	1.	iambic - of or consisting of iambs; "iambic pentameter" metrics, prosody - the study of poetic meter and the art of versification

Translations

jambisch

jampski

iambic

[aɪˈæmbɪk]

A. ADJ → yámbico

B. N → yambo m, verso m yámbico

C. CPD iambic pentameter N → pentámetro m yámbico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

iambic

adj → jambisch; iambic pentameter → fünffüßiger Jambus

n → Jambus m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

It is unfortunately impossible to trace the plan of the poem, which presumably detailed the adventures of this unheroic character: the metre used was a curious mixture of hexametric and iambic lines.

View in context

For there is no common term we could apply to the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogues on the one hand; and, on the other, to poetic imitations in iambic, elegiac, or any similar metre.

View in context

102, of the sonnet.] The rime-scheme is ababbcbcc , and in the last line the iambic pentameter gives place to an Alexandrine (an iambic hexameter).

View in context

Unrhymed iambic pentameters -- the most difficult kind of English verse to write acceptably; a kind, therefore, much affected by those who cannot acceptably write any kind.

View in context

Thence what the lofty grave Tragedians taught In chorus or iambic, teachers best Of moral prudence, with delight received In brief sententious precepts, while they treat Of fate, and chance, and change in human life, High actions and high passions best describing.

View in context

It should also be illegal for young persons to be present either at iambics or comedies before they are arrived at that age when they are allowed to partake of the pleasures of the table: indeed a good education will preserve them from all the evils which attend on these things.

View in context

Phaedrus, a slave by birth or by subsequent misfortunes, and admitted by Augustus to the honors of a freedman, imitated many of these fables in Latin iambics about the commencement of the Christian era.

Plichard Bentley, at the close of the seventeenth century, to examine more minutely the existing versions of Aesop's Fables, and he maintained that many of them could, with a slight change of words, be resolved into the Scazonic l7 iambics, in which Babrias is known to have written: and, with a greater freedom than the evidence then justified, he put forth, in behalf of Babrias, a claim to the exclusive authorship of these fables.

View in context

He had turned Persian poetry into English prose, and English prose into Greek iambics; he was an authority upon coins; and--one other thing--oh yes, she thought it was vehicular traffic.

View in context

It discusses his basic poetic toolkit and techniques for expression, including rhetorical patterning of language, iambic meter, imagery, and wordplay; how Shakespeare works with his sources, as well as his allusions to classical or Biblical texts; his presentation of the two central characters of the play, Shylock and Portia, and his use of language in their characterization; the play's theme that economic considerations and emotional relationships are intertwined; how dramatic context shapes the meaning of his language; the issue of racial and ethnic humor in the play and the play's comic resolution; and adaptation of the play by later printers, editors, directors, actors, and adopters.

The Merchant of Venice: Language and Writing

While Chaucer and Gower are largely responsible for the last stage of this evolution in Middle English and Anglo-Norman, Chaucer's risk in composing in English paid off and iambic pentameter and tetrameter endured to become the staples of English verse, while Gower's French stress-syllabic meters died with the Anglo-Norman dialect.

Chaucer's Verse Art in its European Context

ALL IS TRUE (12A) HHH HH ON STAGE and screen, Sir Kenneth Branagh has devoted a considerable amount of blood, sweat and iambic pentameter to ensuring Shakespeare's plays are widely accessible.