Search the Dictionary

A kind of verse consisting in English of twelve syllables. The needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Pope.

A foot of three syllables, the middle one long, the first and last short (as, h. In modern prosody the accented syllable takes the place of the long and the unaccented of the short; as, pro-phet''ic.

A foot of three syllables, the middle one short and the others long, as in cast. Andrews.

A prefix of one or two unaccented syllables to a verse properly beginning with an accented syllable.

A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the first two short, or unaccented, the last long, or accented; the reverse of the dactyl. In Latin d, and in English in-ter-vene, are examples of anapests.

An initial sound, as of a word or syllable.

The last syllable of a word except two, as -syl in monosyllable.

Of or pertaining to the last syllable but two. -- n.

A foot of three syllables, the first two long, and the last short.

A foot of four syllables, the first and fourth short, and the second and third long.

The dropping of a letter or syllable from the beginning of a word; e. g., cute for acute.

Shortened by dropping a letter or a syllable from the beginning of a word; as, an aphetic word or form. -- A*phet"ic*al*ly, adv. New Eng. Dict.

To cut off or drop; as, to apocopate a word, or the last letter, syllable, or part of a word.

The cutting off, or omission, of the last letter, syllable, or part of a word.

inctly uttered; spoken so as to be intelligible; characterized by division into words and syllables; as, articulate speech, sounds, words. Total changes of party and articulate opinion. Carlyle.

Produced, as a letter, syllable, or word, by the organs of speech; pronounced.

Unaccented; as, an atonic syllable.

A metrical foot composed of a short syllable and two long ones; according to some, two long and a short.

sonal prefix Aba-, as in Ba-ntu, or Aba-ntu, itself a combination of this prefix with the syllable -ntu, a person. -- Ban"tu, a.

Not marked with an accent on the last syllable, the grave accent being understood.