amphibrach

amphibrach

English

Etymology

From Latin amphibrachys, from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβραχυς (amphíbrakhus, “short at both ends”), from ἀμφί (amphí) + βραχύς (brakhús, “short”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈam.fɪ.bɹak/

Noun

amphibrach (plural amphibrachs)

1. (prosody) A metrical foot in ancient Greek or Latin consisting of two short syllables surrounding one long one (e.g. amāta).
2. (prosody) A metrical foot in modern prosody, consisting of three syllables, the middle one of which is stressed (e.g. Jamaica).
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, page 322:

     Then Banoffsky launched into Glinka's great amphibrachs [...]: Subside, agitation of passion!

Related terms

• amphibrachic

Translations

metrical foot of three syllables

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Catalan: amfíbrac m Dutch: amfibrachys (nl) m Esperanto: amfibraĥo, amfibrako Finnish: amfibrakhys French: amphibraque (fr) m German: Amphibrachys (de) m, Skolius m Greek: Ancient: ἀμφίβραχυς m (amphíbrakhus) Hindi: please add this translation if you can Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Italian: anfibraco m Japanese: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Latin: amphibrachys m, amphibrachus m, amphibrevis m Malay: please add this translation if you can Occitan: please add this translation if you can Polish: amfibrach (pl) m Portuguese: anfíbraco m Russian: амфибра́хий (ru) m (amfibráxij) Serbo-Croatian: amfibrah (sh) m Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swahili: please add this translation if you can