penthemimeraladj.
/ˌpɛnθᵻˈmɪm(ə)rəl/, /ˌpɛnθᵻˈmɪm(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˌpɛnθəˈmɪmər(ə)l/ Classical Prosody.
Designating a caesura occurring in the middle of the third foot of an iambic trimeter or hexameter.
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penthemimeral1819
trihemimeral1871
tetremimeral1906
1819 T. Webb Greek Prosody & Metre 26 Penthemimeral cæsura.
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. ii. 17 I had replied to Robin now, with all the weight and cadence of penthemimeral cæsura.
1912 Classical Philol. 7 507 The long pauses of verse (viz., the end of the line and the penthemimeral caesura) coincide with the minor verse pauses.
1989 Oxf. Compan. Classical Lit. (ed. 2) 359/2 Every line had a caesura, regularly occurring at one of the two alternative places in the third foot, either..the ‘masculine’ or penthemimeral (‘after the third position’) caesura.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1819