Anapaest

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A metrical unit consisting of three syllables, the first two unstressed and the third stressed, commonly used in poetry
2. A rhythmic pattern of two short or unstressed syllables followed by one long or stressed syllable in verse
3. A poetic foot made up of three beats where the emphasis falls on the final syllable

Etymology: The metrical foot "anapaest" takes its name from a reversal. A dactyl runs long-short-short (DUM-da-da), and the anapaest is its mirror image, short-short-long (da-da-DUM). The Greeks called it "anapaistos," meaning "struck back," from "ana," "back," and "paiein," "to strike." Because the rhythm seems to rebound, as if the beat were tapped backward, the name fits the sound well. The word reached English through Latin "anapaestus," which borrowed the Greek term directly. English writers kept the Latin-style spelling, and the variant "anapest," which drops the diphthong, is common today. Both spellings name the same thing, so you will see either in poetry handbooks.

Synonyms: anapest