/ 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)
••
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).