Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hexameter"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hexameter \Hex*am"e*ter\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? of six meters; (sc.
?) hexameter verse; "e`x six + ? measure: cf. F.
hexam[`e]tre. See {Six}, and {Meter}.] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.)
A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either
dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl,
and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are
composed the Iliad of Homer and the [AE]neid of Virgil. In
English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity.
Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland
the | voice of the | huntsman. --Longfellow.
Strongly it | bears us a- | long on | swelling and |
limitless | billows, Nothing be- | fore and | nothing
be- | hind but the | sky and the | ocean. --Coleridge.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hexameter \Hex*am"e*ter\, a.
Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees.
--Holland.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hexameter
n : a verse line having six metrical feet
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