distich

[ dis-tik ]

noun

, Prosody.

1. a unit of two lines of verse, usually a self-contained statement; couplet.
2. a rhyming couplet.

distich

/ ˈdɪstɪk /

noun

1. prosody a unit of two verse lines, usually a couplet

Derived Forms

• ˈdistichal, adjective

Other Words From

• disti·chal adjective
• sub·distich noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of distich¹

1545–55; < Latin distichon, noun use of neuter of Greek dístichos having two lines, equivalent to di- di- ¹ + stíchos row

Word History and Origins

Origin of distich¹

C16: from Greek distikhos having two lines, from di- ¹+ stikhos stich

Example Sentences

Of these the first and least important comprises eight narrative religious poems, in leonine hexameters or distichs.

From Project Gutenberg

The story which inspired it begins at distich No. 972, and is as follows: An observer of spiritual things approached the sea And said �O sea, why are you blue?

From Project Gutenberg

I myself could have responded to the royal suspiria with one distich.

From Project Gutenberg

This collection of distichs, written in collaboration with Schiller, was prompted by the indifference and animosity of contemporary criticism, and its disregard for what the two poets regarded as the higher interests of German poetry.

From Project Gutenberg

The rhyme was designed to honour the poet's father, who set the forest here; but accident must have stayed the stone-cutter's hand and left the distich incomplete.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• verse