IAMBIC


Meaning of IAMBIC in English

/ aɪˈæmbɪk; NAmE / adjective

( technical ) ( of rhythm in poetry ) in which one weak or short syllable is followed by one strong or long syllable :

a poem written in iambic pentameters (= in lines of ten syllables, five short and five long)

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WORD ORIGIN

mid 16th cent.: from French iambique , via late Latin from Greek iambikos , from iambos iambus, lampoon, from iaptein attack verbally (because the iambic trimeter was first used by Greek satirists).

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.