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Webster 1913 Edition

Hexameter

Hex-am′e-ter

,
Noun.
[L., fr. Gr. [GREEK] of six meters; (sc. [GREEK]) hexameter verse;
ἕξ
six + [GREEK] measure: cf. F.
hexamètre
. See
Six
, and
Meter
.]
(Gr. & Lat. Pros.)
A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Iliad of Homer and the Aeneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity.
Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland the | voice of the | huntsman.
Longfellow.
Strongly it | bears us a- | long on | swelling and | limitless | billows,
Nothing be- | fore and | nothing be- | hind but the | sky and the | ocean.
Coleridge.

Webster 1828 Edition

Hexameter

HEXAM'ETER

,
Noun.
[Gr. six, and measure.] In ancient poetry, a verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees,the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Illiad of Homer and the Aeneid of Virgil.

HEXAM'ETER

,
Adj.
Having six metrical feet.

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