amphibrach

[ am-fuh-brak ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Prosody.

a trisyllabic foot, the arrangement of the syllables of which is short, long, short in quantitative meter, or unstressed, stressed, unstressed in accentual meter. Thus, together is an accentual amphibrach.

amphibrach

/ ˈæmfɪˌbræk /

prosody a metrical foot consisting of a long syllable between two short syllables ( ) Compare cretic

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1580–90; < Latin amphibrachus < Greek amphíbrachys short before and after ( amphi- amphi- + brachýs short); amphimacer

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C16: from Latin, from Greek amphibrakhus, literally: both ends being short, from amphi- + brakhus short

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Similarly, such a word as alighted, in which a strong syllable is situated between two weak ones, may be called an 'amphibrach.'

The amphibrach plays a highly important part in English verse, though it is usual not to mention it at all.

The Amphibrach is a foot of three syllables, the first and third short, and the second long.

But these lines are of the high burlesque kind, and in this stile the Amphibrach closes lines with great beauty.

Similarly, the symbol means a trochee; and the symbol means an amphibrach.

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