amphibrach

[ am-fuh-brak ]

noun

, Prosody.

1. 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 /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˌamphiˈbrachic, adjective

Other Words From

• amphi·brachic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of amphibrach¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of amphibrach¹

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

Example Sentences

One of the most arresting songs on the album is “Spiral,” which consists of thirty-two amphibrachs—three-syllable lines, with the stress in the middle—building toward an affirmation:

From The New Yorker

Here the regular accent has yielded to an accent on the middle syllable and there are two amphibrachs.

From Project Gutenberg

There is still another foot, known as the amphibrach, which consists of three syllables, the second of which is accented, as in the word de-ni'-al.

From Project Gutenberg

Without this, months of reading of amphibrachs and trochees and dactyls will not avail.

From Project Gutenberg

Three irregular feet, the pyrrhic, the spondee, the amphibrach, are occasionally found in lines, but not in entire poems, and are often considered merely as substitutes for regular feet.

From Project Gutenberg