choliambus

[ koh-lee-am-buhs ]

noun

, Prosody.

, plural cho·li·am·bi [koh-lee-, am, -bahy].

1. a line of iambic meter with a spondee or trochee replacing the last foot.

Word History and Origins

Origin of choliambus¹

< Greek chōlíambos, equivalent to chōl ( ós ) lame, halting + íambos iamb

Example Sentences

He was considered the inventor of parody and of a peculiar metre, the scazon or choliambus, which substitutes a spondee for the final iambus of an iambic senarius, and is an appropriate form for the burlesque character of his poems.

From Project Gutenberg

Choliambus or scazon, which is the same with the last mentioned, except that the concluding foot of the line is always a spondee.

From Project Gutenberg

In a lonely hollow walk, overgrown with sting-nettles he scanned the deadly verses on his fingers, until the murderous iambus flowed evenly upon its four feet without a halting choliambus.

From Project Gutenberg