amphibrach

A1M3P3H4I1B3R1A1C3H4
UK/ˈam.fɪ.bɹak/

noun

A metrical foot in ancient Greek or Latin consisting of two short syllables surrounding one long one (e.g. amāta).

OriginLatin amphibrachys ← Ancient Greek ἀμφίβραχυς →
Scrabble 24
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounamphibrach (plural amphibrachs)

plural amphibrachs

  1. human sciencesA metrical foot in ancient Greek or Latin consisting of two short syllables surrounding one long one (e.g. amāta).
  2. human sciencesA metrical foot in modern prosody, consisting of three syllables, the middle one of which is stressed (e.g. Jamaica).

    Then Banoffsky launched into Glinka's great amphibrachs [...]: Subside, agitation of passion!

    1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, page 322

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἀμφίβραχυς“short at both ends”
  2. Latinamphibrachys
  3. Englishamphibrach

From Latin amphibrachys, from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβραχυς (amphíbrakhus, “short at both ends”), from ἀμφί (amphí) + βραχύς (brakhús, “short”).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀμφίβραχυς
  • ἀμφίβραχυς (amphíbrakhus)metrical foot of three syllables
Catalan amfíbrac
  • amfíbracmetrical foot of three syllables
Dutch amfibrachys
  • amfibrachysmetrical foot of three syllables
Esperanto amfibraĥo, amfibrako
  • amfibraĥometrical foot of three syllables
  • amfibrakometrical foot of three syllables
Finnish amfibrakhys
  • amfibrakhysmetrical foot of three syllables
French amphibraque
  • amphibraquemetrical foot of three syllables
German Amphibrachys, Skolius
  • Amphibrachysmetrical foot of three syllables
  • Skoliusmetrical foot of three syllables
Italian anfibraco
  • anfibracometrical foot of three syllables
Latin amphibrachys, amphibrachus
  • amphibrachysmetrical foot of three syllables
  • amphibrachusmetrical foot of three syllables
  • amphibrevismetrical foot of three syllables
Polish amfibrach
  • amfibrachmetrical foot of three syllables
Portuguese anfíbraco
  • anfíbracometrical foot of three syllables
Russian амфибра́хий
  • амфибра́хий (amfibráxij)metrical foot of three syllables
Cite this entry
APA

amphibrach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrach

MLA

“amphibrach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrach. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “amphibrach,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrach.

Source: amphibrach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.