dactylic

/dæk'tilik/

Thân thiện

The poet composed a dactylic verse about a galloping horse.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or consisting of dactyls: Pertaining to a metrical foot in poetry that consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
   • Characterized by dactylic meter: Describing verse or rhythm that is based on or uses the dactyl as its primary metrical unit.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The poem's dactylic rhythm gives it a galloping, energetic feel.
  • Homer's epic poems are famously written in dactylic hexameter.

Advanced Usage

• "dactylic hexameter": A line of verse consisting of six metrical feet, each of which is typically a dactyl. This meter is characteristic of ancient Greek and Latin epic poetry.

  • Virgil's "Aeneid" is composed in dactylic hexameter.

• "dactylic substitution": In poetic meter, the replacement of a dactyl with another type of metrical foot, such as a spondee, for rhythmic variation.

  • The poet used dactylic substitution to avoid monotony in the long epic lines.

Variants and Related Words

• Dactyl (n): The metrical foot itself, consisting of one long or stressed syllable followed by two short or unstressed syllables (e.g., the word "poetry").
• Dactylicism (n): The use of dactyls in verse; a dactylic style or quality.

Synonyms

• Metrical: Pertaining to poetic meter or rhythm (a broader term).
• Rhythmic: Having a strong, regular, repeated pattern of sound or movement.

Related Phrases and Terms

• Dactylic meter: A pattern of rhythm in poetry defined by the prevalence of dactyls.

  • The poet experimented with dactylic meter to capture the sound of hoofbeats.

• Double dactyl: A light verse form with strict rules, consisting of two quatrains where the first three lines of each are dactylic.

  • She wrote a witty double dactyl about her cat.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. of or consisting of dactyls
   • dactylic meter