| Main Entry: | iambic pentameter |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable |
| Etymology: | French iambique 'of a foot or verse' and Greek pentameter 'measure of five' |
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| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
The most common meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten syllables long that is accented on every second beat (see blank verse). These lines in iambic pentameter are from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare:
&Ibreve;n sóoth,/&Ibreve; knów/nŏt whý/&Ibreve; ám/sŏ sád.
&Ibreve;t wéa/riěs mé;/yŏu sáy/ĭt wéa/riěs yóu&ellipsis4;