iamb
1
9.3
- noun
- /ˈaɪæm/
- Literature
:
yambo
- The teacher explained how an iamb consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
- iambs and trochees
Examples
-
(Divorce is an iamb; marriage is a trochee.)
Academic text (2016) -
Swinburne certainly did not invent this line of iambs and anapests.
Academic text (2016) -
Of limping iambs in some sort of rhyme
Blog text (16) -
She trusts the girls mastering their iambs and pentameters, but not with the little one.
-
I write a sonnet entitled "Preface" about rain in the Quarter, drumming the iambs on my knee.
Fiction book (1992) -
The lines of encounter are acatalectic, "headless," with the first syllable of the iambs lopped off.
Academic text (2017) -
In prior studies, adults showed some spatial and temporal stress modulation in trochees, just to a lesser extent than that observed in iambs.
Academic text (2011) -
In the poem, each line is made up of alternating iambs and anapests to create a musical rhythm.
-
Shakespeare often used iambs in his plays to give structure to the dialogue.
Synonyms
Two syllables with the second one spoken more strongly
Compounds
- Literature
A line of poetry that ends with a strong or reversed beat instead of the usual weak-strong beat
How Many Feet
- Literature
7
8.2
- Literature
1
9.3
- Literature
- Literature
1
9.3
Surface Forms
Etymology
Iamb comes from the Greek iambos, a name for a short, sharp poetic line, so imagine a quick step followed by a stronger step. That's why an iamb is a two-syllable beat where the first syllable is light and the second is stressed, like 'da-DUM'.