Adjacent Words

Alexandrine definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ALEX'ANDRINE,or ALEXANDRIAN, n. A kind of verse, consisting of twelve syllables, or of twelve and thirteen alternately; so called from a poem written in French on the life of Alexander. This species of verse is peculiar to modern poetry, but well adapted to epic poems. The Alexandrine in English consists of twelve syllables, and is less used than this kind of verse is among the French, whose tragedies are generally composed of Alexandrines.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (prosody) a line of verse that has six iambic feet

Merriam Webster's

noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: French alexandrin, adjective, from Alexandre Alexander the Great; from its use in a poem on Alexander Date: 1667 a line of verse of 12 syllables consisting regularly of 6 iambs with a caesura after the third iamb • alexandrine adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. (of a line of verse) having six iambic feet. --n. an alexandrine line. Etymology: F alexandrin f. Alexandre Alexander (the Great), the subject of an Old French poem in this metre

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Alexandrine Al`ex*an"drine (?; 277), a. Belonging to Alexandria; Alexandrian. --Bancroft.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Alexandrine Al`ex*an"drine, n. [F. alexandrin.] A kind of verse consisting in English of twelve syllables. The needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. --Pope.