Meanings
- not comparableConsisting of amphibrachs, metrical feet consisting of either a long syllable between two that are short, or an accented syllable between two that are not accented.
[…]she will grow up to have long hair, a knack for the violin, an anonymous male admirer who writes her love poetry in amphibrachic tetrameter, and a son who dies in battle[…].
1988 December 23, Albert Williams, “Melissa, While She Sleeps”, in Chicago Reader1 more example
Father Humphrey says, "Anapaestic and amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous^([sic]) compositions; and sometimes to elegiac compositions, and subjects important and solemn."
1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars, 6th edition
Origin
- Latinamphibrachicus
- Englishamphibrachic
Learned borrowing from Latin amphibrachicus. By surface analysis, amphibrach + -ic.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto amfibraĥa
- amfibraĥaconsisting of amphibrachs
Polish amfibrachiczny
- amfibrachicznyconsisting of amphibrachs
Portuguese anfíbraco, anfibráquico
- anfíbracoconsisting of amphibrachs
- anfibráquicoconsisting of amphibrachs
Cite this entry
amphibrachic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrachic
“amphibrachic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrachic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “amphibrachic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amphibrachic.
Source: amphibrachic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.