IAMBUS


Meaning of IAMBUS in English

[ ʌɪ'ambəs ]

■ noun ( plural ~es or iambi -bʌɪ ) Prosody a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.

Origin

C16: L., from Gk iambos '~, lampoon', from iaptein 'attack verbally' (because the iambic trimeter was first used by Greek satirists).

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.