Definition of tetrastich in English:
tetrastich
noun ˈtɛtrəstɪkˈtɛtrəˌstɪk
Prosody A group of four lines of verse.
Example sentencesExamples
- If Edward Cowell hadn't been able to interest Edward FitzGerald in the study of the Persian language in 1852 and brought to FitzGerald's notice in 1856 a Persian manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, then FitzGerald would not have translated these ‘Epicurean tetrastichs by a Persian of the eleventh century’.
- There is no alteration in the words; but the two tetrastichs composing the first stanza are transposed.
- The original Rubaiyat (as, missing an Arabic guttural, these tetrastichs are more musically called) are independent stanzas, consisting each of four lines of equal, though varied, prosody; sometimes all rhyming, but oftener (as here imitated) the third line a blank.
- That this is a work adapted from Ovid's poem is evident from the prominent authorial emphasis given to Johannes Posthius of Germersheim on the title-page: he is the author of the German and Latin tetrastichs which make up the text of the book.
- They are called the Ausonii Tetrastichon because they are a series of tetrastichs - four-line stanzas - by the fourth century Gallo-Roman poet Ausonius.
Synonyms
stanza, strophe, stave, canto
Origin
Late 16th century: via Latin from Greek tetrastikhon 'having four rows', from tetra- 'four' + stikhon 'row, line of verse'.
Definition of tetrastich in US English:
tetrastich
nounˈtɛtrəˌstɪkˈtetrəˌstik
Prosody A group of four lines of verse.
Example sentencesExamples
- That this is a work adapted from Ovid's poem is evident from the prominent authorial emphasis given to Johannes Posthius of Germersheim on the title-page: he is the author of the German and Latin tetrastichs which make up the text of the book.
- There is no alteration in the words; but the two tetrastichs composing the first stanza are transposed.
- If Edward Cowell hadn't been able to interest Edward FitzGerald in the study of the Persian language in 1852 and brought to FitzGerald's notice in 1856 a Persian manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, then FitzGerald would not have translated these ‘Epicurean tetrastichs by a Persian of the eleventh century’.
- They are called the Ausonii Tetrastichon because they are a series of tetrastichs - four-line stanzas - by the fourth century Gallo-Roman poet Ausonius.
- The original Rubaiyat (as, missing an Arabic guttural, these tetrastichs are more musically called) are independent stanzas, consisting each of four lines of equal, though varied, prosody; sometimes all rhyming, but oftener (as here imitated) the third line a blank.
Synonyms
stanza, strophe, stave, canto
Origin
Late 16th century: via Latin from Greek tetrastikhon ‘having four rows’, from tetra- ‘four’ + stikhon ‘row, line of verse’.