trochaic etymology

Etymology

• Trochaic is derived from the Greek word "trochaios," which means "running" or "trotting."

Meaning and Origin

In prosody, a trochaic refers to a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable:

• ˘ ́

The term "trochaic" was originally used to describe the rhythm of a particular type of Greek poetry, known as trochaic tetrameter, which was used in comedies and dance performances. The movement of the dance while performing trochaic poetry was thought to resemble the running or trotting of a horse.

Example

A line of poetry written in trochaic meter:

The fields are green, the skies are blue, And all is well with me and you.

In this line, the stressed syllables (marked with an acute accent) alternate with the unstressed syllables.

Other Usage

The term "trochaic" is also used in linguistics to describe:

• Trochaic languages: Languages where words tend to have a stress pattern of stressed-unstressed syllables, such as English and Spanish.
• Trochaic inversion: A figure of speech in which the natural trochaic pattern of a phrase is reversed, such as "From grave to gay, from lively to severe."

trochaic relate terms

• trochee

  Etymology The word trochee derives from the Greek word trochaios meaning running

• truckle

  Etymology The word truckle is derived from the Middle English word trokel which itse

• rhythm

  Etymology Old French rithme Latin rhythmus Greek ῥυθμός rhythmos Meaning

• imperative

  Etymology The word imperative is derived from the Latin word imperare meaning to co

• staple

  Etymology The word staple derives from the Old English word stapol which means a po

• skill

  Etymology The word skill derives from the Old Norse word skil meaning discernment

• hamburger

  Etymology The word hamburger originates from the German city of Hamburg Meaning A

• refrain

  Etymology Old French refraindre Medieval Latin refrangere Latin re back frang

• juggernaut

  Etymology From Sanskrit jagannātha or jagad nātha Jagannātha means Lord of t

• citizen

  Citizen Etymology Meaning The process of altering the pronunciation or spelling of a wor

• distress

  Etymology Old French destresse Late Latin districtius comparative of districtus mea

• chagrin

  Etymology The word chagrin comes from the Old French word chagriner meaning to anno