Anapaestic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable
2. A rhythmic unit often used in poetry to create a specific flow or cadence
3. A structure found in verse that emphasizes certain words through its pattern of syllables

Etymology: "Anapaestic" is the adjective form of "anapaest," the metrical foot made of two short or unstressed syllables followed by a long or stressed one, as in "in the sun." The name comes from Greek "anapaistos," meaning "struck back," because the foot is essentially a reversed "dactyl," which runs long-short-short. Ancient Greek grammarians thought of the rhythm as a beat turned back on itself, and the Latin "anapaesticus" carried that sense into the classical tradition of verse analysis. The word reached English through Latin, so its path is a learned one rather than a folk or spoken inheritance. It was built by attaching the English adjective suffix "-ic" to "anapaest," the same pattern found in words like "iambic" and "dactylic," which describe other metrical feet.

Synonyms: metrical, poetic, rhythmic, dactylic, stressed