pentameter

/pɛnˈtæmədər/

Other forms: pentameters

The most common way to structure a line of English poetry is to use pentameter, which is made up of five metrical feet. Forsooth, Shakespeare wrote much of his work using pentameter.

Whenever a line of poetry contains five units of verse — combinations of stressed and unstressed syllables, also called feet — that's an example of pentameter. The most familiar version of this type of line is iambic pentameter, which uses five iambs, or groups of two syllables in which the second is stressed. These lines from Shakespeare are good examples of iambic pentameter: "That time of year thou mayst in me behold/When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang." Pentameter comes from a Greek root meaning "having five measures."

Definitions of pentameter

1. noun

   a verse line having five metrical feet
   type of:

   verse, verse line

   a line of metrical text