bacchius
|bac-chi-us|
/ˈbæk.i.əs/
metrical foot: short-long-long
Etymology
'bacchius' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'bacchius', which itself comes from Greek 'bakchius' (βακχιος), a technical term used in ancient Greek prosody and ultimately related to the name 'Bacchus' in origin.
'bacchius' passed from Greek technical prosodic terminology into Latin usage and was later borrowed into English as a specialized literary and prosodic term in discussions of classical and English verse.
Initially, it referred in Greek and Latin prosody to a particular metrical foot (one short followed by two long syllables); over time the term remained specialized and retains that technical sense in modern prosodic discussion.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a metrical foot in classical quantitative verse consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by two long (or stressed) syllables (˘ – –).
The Latin line contains a bacchius in its fourth foot.
Synonyms
Noun 2
in accentual-syllabic or English prosody, an (uncommon) term sometimes used to describe a foot with an unstressed syllable followed by two stressed syllables (unstressed-stressed-stressed).
In a few modern analyses the critic identified a bacchius where the pattern was weak-strong-strong.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/24 18:18