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masculine

masculine

1 8.2
Ending a musical line on a strong, stressed beat
  • adjective
  • /ˈmæskjəlɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : masculino
  • "He compares the new masculine language to the body of a boxer," with no lyrical fat, with no intellectual listlessness, hard, tough, trained.

Examples

  • The final line of the poem has a masculine cadence, emphasizing the strength of the emotions expressed.

  • Each stanza concludes with a masculine rhyme, giving the poem a powerful and assertive tone.

  • When I ask him why artists paint angels with feminine faces but a masculine chest, he tells me angels are sexless.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • "To be paid for by the Baron Dennis Dugdaleo," Allegra had scribbled across the bottom of the bill in a bold, almost masculine script.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The poem enchants, with its mirrors and riddles and its careful knit of masculine and feminine rhymes.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Although Desbordes-Valmore's male contemporaries, including Lamartine, Hugo, Vigny, and Sainte-Beuve, recognized her poetic inspiration, they largely disfigured her voice in terms of masculine parameters.

    Academic text (2000)
  • In classical music, a passage may end on a masculine note, creating a strong and decisive finish.

Compounds

masculine declension
  • Specialized
9.6

Forms of words like nouns and adjectives used for masculine gender in a language

masculine rhyme
  • Literature
8.4

A rhyme where the last syllable has the main stressed vowel sound

Surface Forms

masculine positive

Etymology

The musical sense of masculine also comes from the root masculus 'male', used to suggest something 'strong' or 'stressed'. So a masculine cadence or rhyme ends on a strong, stressed beat, giving the ending extra force.