spondaicadj.n.
/spɒnˈdeɪɪk/, U.S. /spɑnˈdeɪɪk/ A. adj.
1. Of verses (or parts of these): (a) composed of spondees; (b) having a spondee in positions where a different foot is normal; esp. of hexameters, having a spondee in the fifth foot.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > hexameter > types of
spondaic1699
pythiambic1870
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > composed in feet > spondaic
spondiac1589
spondaic1699
ischiorrhogic1832
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. at Spondaïque A spondaick Verse.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Spondee There are also Spondee or Spondaic Verses; that is, Verses composed wholly of Spondees, or at least that end with Two Spondees.
1789 M. Madan in tr. Persius Satires (1795) 34 (note) The end of this verse is spondaic.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XV. 254/2 An hexameter line..when regular and not spondaic..never has fewer than thirteen [syllables].
1847 Proc. Philol. Soc. (1848) 3 105 The same argument may be drawn from the construction of spondaic anapæstic verses.
1861 F. A. Paley Æschylus' Persians (ed. 2) 32 (note) On the spondaic termination see Suppl. 7.
2. Characterized by a spondee or spondees.
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1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 94. ⁋10 This at least was the power of the spondaick and dactylick harmony.
1773 W. Melmoth Remarks in tr. Cicero Cato 193 A certain piece of musick composed in solemn spondaic measures.
1798 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 4) iv. 217 The trochaic, iambic, or spondaic [movement].
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1875) III. 225 I do not know the meaning of this strange epithet and spondaic cadence.
3. Of words: Consisting of two long syllables.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [adjective] > syllable > consisting of > consisting of specific number > consisting of two long syllables
spondaica1849
a1849 E. A. Poe Longfellow in Wks. (1864) III. 364 Our spondees, or, we should say, our spondaic words are rare.
B. n.
A spondaic foot or line.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [noun] > foot > spondee
spondeea1390
spondeus1567
spondaic1839
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [noun] > foot > spondee > verse of spondees
spondaic1839
1839 T. Mitchell in Aristophanes Frogs 357 (note) On the anapæstic spondaics which follow, see Hermann.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1699