Tetrameters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A poetic form consisting of lines with four metrical feet each
2. A structure in verse where each line contains four rhythmic units, commonly used in various poetic traditions
3. A rhythmical framework in poetry characterized by the presence of four feet per line, enhancing the verse's flow and musicality

Etymology: The word combines the Greek "tetra-", meaning four, with "metron", meaning measure. "Metron" is also the source of "meter" and "metric," so a tetrameter is literally a line of four measures. In Greek verse, a single metron was often a pair of feet rather than one, so the Greek sense of the term was closer to "four units" than to "four feet." The Greek compound passed into Latin as "tetrametrus," and English took the term from that Latin base. Its use in English poetry gives the word its everyday meaning: a line built on four stressed or measured units, which is the frame behind many ballad and hymn stanzas.