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iamb

[ ahy-am, ahy-amb ]
/ ˈaɪ æm, ˈaɪ æmb /
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noun Prosody.
a foot of two syllables, a short followed by a long in quantitative meter, or an unstressed followed by a stressed in accentual meter, as in Come live / with me / and be / my love.
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Origin of iamb

First recorded in 1835–45; short for iambus

Words nearby iamb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use iamb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for iamb

iamb

iambus (aɪˈæmbəs)

/ (ˈaɪæm, ˈaɪæmb) /

noun plural iambs, iambi (aɪˈæmbaɪ) or iambuses prosody
a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, a short one followed by a long one (◡ –)
a line of verse of such feet

Word Origin for iamb

C19 iamb, from C16 iambus, from Latin, from Greek iambos
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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