"pentameter" meaning in English

See pentameter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav Forms: pentameters [plural], pentametre [alternative]
Etymology: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter. Etymology templates: {{PIE word|en|pénkʷe}} PIE word *pénkʷe, {{der|en|frm|pentamètre}} Middle French pentamètre, {{surf|en|penta-|meter|nocap=1}} by surface analysis, penta- + meter Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} pentameter (countable and uncountable, plural pentameters)
  1. (poetry, countable) A line in a poem having five metrical feet. Tags: countable Translations (line in a poem): pentameter [masculine] (Dutch), pentametri (Finnish), pentasyllabe [masculine] (French), Fünfheber [masculine] (German), pentameter (Hungarian), pentametru [masculine] (Romanian)
    Sense id: en-pentameter-en-noun-tmO0vids Categories (other): Poetry, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with penta-, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Five Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 90 10 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with penta-: 59 41 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 87 13 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 95 5 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 77 23 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Five: 62 38 Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing Disambiguation of 'line in a poem': 88 12
  2. (poetry) Poetic metre in which each line has five feet. Tags: countable, uncountable Translations (poetic metre): pentametri (Finnish), pentamètre [masculine] (French), Fünfheber [masculine] (German), pentameter (Hungarian), pięciostopowiec [masculine] (Polish), pentametr [masculine] (Polish), pentametru [masculine] (Romanian)
    Sense id: en-pentameter-en-noun-mFCmMdQx Categories (other): Poetry, Prosody Disambiguation of Prosody: 39 61 Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing Disambiguation of 'poetic metre': 18 82
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: elegiac pentameter, iambic pentameter Related terms: pentametric

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "elegiac pentameter"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "iambic pentameter"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pénkʷe"
      },
      "expansion": "PIE word\n *pénkʷe",
      "name": "PIE word"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "pentamètre"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French pentamètre",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "penta-",
        "3": "meter",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "by surface analysis, penta- + meter",
      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "PIE word\n *pénkʷe\nFrom Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pentameters",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pentametre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "pentameter (countable and uncountable, plural pentameters)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "pentametric"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Poetry",
          "orig": "en:Poetry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with penta-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "77 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "62 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Five",
          "orig": "en:Five",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              44
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1822, Robert Bland, Elements of Latin Hexameters and Pentameters, third edition, London: John Robinson, page vi:",
          "text": "The best verses, more especially pentameters, are written on the principle of attracting and fixing the attention to their close.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A line in a poem having five metrical feet."
      ],
      "id": "en-pentameter-en-noun-tmO0vids",
      "links": [
        [
          "poetry",
          "poetry"
        ],
        [
          "line",
          "line"
        ],
        [
          "poem",
          "poem"
        ],
        [
          "five",
          "five"
        ],
        [
          "metrical feet",
          "metrical foot"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetry, countable) A line in a poem having five metrical feet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentameter"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "word": "pentametri"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentasyllabe"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Fünfheber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "word": "pentameter"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "line in a poem",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentametru"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Poetry",
          "orig": "en:Poetry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Prosody",
          "orig": "en:Prosody",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Poetic metre in which each line has five feet."
      ],
      "id": "en-pentameter-en-noun-mFCmMdQx",
      "links": [
        [
          "poetry",
          "poetry"
        ],
        [
          "Poetic",
          "poetic"
        ],
        [
          "metre",
          "metre"
        ],
        [
          "line",
          "line"
        ],
        [
          "five",
          "five"
        ],
        [
          "feet",
          "feet"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetry) Poetic metre in which each line has five feet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "word": "pentametri"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentamètre"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Fünfheber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "word": "pentameter"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pięciostopowiec"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentametr"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "18 82",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "poetic metre",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pentametru"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/87/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/87/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pentameter"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *pénkʷe",
    "English terms prefixed with penta-",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Romanian translations",
    "en:Five",
    "en:Prosody"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "elegiac pentameter"
    },
    {
      "word": "iambic pentameter"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pénkʷe"
      },
      "expansion": "PIE word\n *pénkʷe",
      "name": "PIE word"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "pentamètre"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French pentamètre",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "penta-",
        "3": "meter",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "by surface analysis, penta- + meter",
      "name": "surf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "PIE word\n *pénkʷe\nFrom Middle French pentamètre, by surface analysis, penta- + meter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pentameters",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pentametre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "pentameter (countable and uncountable, plural pentameters)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "pentametric"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Poetry"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              44
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1822, Robert Bland, Elements of Latin Hexameters and Pentameters, third edition, London: John Robinson, page vi:",
          "text": "The best verses, more especially pentameters, are written on the principle of attracting and fixing the attention to their close.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A line in a poem having five metrical feet."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "poetry",
          "poetry"
        ],
        [
          "line",
          "line"
        ],
        [
          "poem",
          "poem"
        ],
        [
          "five",
          "five"
        ],
        [
          "metrical feet",
          "metrical foot"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetry, countable) A line in a poem having five metrical feet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Poetry"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Poetic metre in which each line has five feet."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "poetry",
          "poetry"
        ],
        [
          "Poetic",
          "poetic"
        ],
        [
          "metre",
          "metre"
        ],
        [
          "line",
          "line"
        ],
        [
          "five",
          "five"
        ],
        [
          "feet",
          "feet"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetry) Poetic metre in which each line has five feet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/pɛnˈtæmɪtə(ɹ)/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/87/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-pentameter.wav.mp3",
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    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentameter"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "word": "pentametri"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentasyllabe"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Fünfheber"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "word": "pentameter"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "line in a poem",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentametru"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "word": "pentametri"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentamètre"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Fünfheber"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "word": "pentameter"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pięciostopowiec"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentametr"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "poetic metre",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pentametru"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pentameter"
}

Download raw JSONL data for pentameter meaning in English (4.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.