common meter

noun

A hymn metre characterized by a quatrain of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.

“The hymn “Amazing Grace” is in common meter.”

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Meanings

nouncommon meter (uncountable)

alternative common metre

  1. uncountableA hymn metre characterized by a quatrain of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.

    The hymn “Amazing Grace” is in common meter.

    1 more example

    The English band Crass sounded like a bag of rocks: scrabbly drum rolls, clanky guitars, no bass end, the words a jabbery Cockney caterwaul through endless stanzas of common meter.

    2008 January 13, Ben Ratliff, “Easy Slogans, Twinkly Funk and One Busy String”, in New York Times

    Synonyms: common measure

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA hymn metre characterized by a quatrain of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.

Similar
common measure

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe usual (iambic) meter of a ballad

Similar
common measure
Broader
metermetremeasure

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

common meter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20meter

MLA

“common meter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20meter. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “common meter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20meter.

Source: common meter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.