iambic
adjective /aɪˈæmbɪk/
/aɪˈæmbɪk/
(specialist)- (of rhythm in poetry) in which one weak or short syllable is followed by one strong or long syllable
- a poem written in iambic pentameters (= in lines of ten syllables, five short and five long)
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French iambique, via late Latin from Greek iambikos, from iambos ‘iambus, lampoon’, from iaptein ‘attack verbally’ (because the iambic trimeter was first used by Greek satirists).