noun
tetrameter
teh-TRAM-uh-ter/tɛˈtræmətər/
A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.
This tetrameter has four feet, each moving from an unstressed to a stressed syllable.
Etymology
The Greek components mean 'four measures.' In this English sense, those measures are metrical feet: the name counts rhythmic units within a line rather than individual syllables.
In context
now the word tetrameter means a line of poetry made up of four metrical feet in this case the metrical foot are those two syllables that go together the stress followed by unstressed
More examples
- She marks the four feet in each tetrameter.
- Two rhyming tetrameters form a compact couplet.
- The poet follows a long line with a brisk tetrameter.
Forms
tetrameter · tetrameters
meter noun — The organized rhythmic pattern of verse.
metrical adjective — Relating to the rhythmic structure of verse.