alexandrine

See also: Alexandrine

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French alexandrin.[1] So called from its use in old French poems on Alexander the Great (Roman d'Alexandre, c. 1177).[2]

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

alexandrine (plural alexandrines)

  1. (poetry) A line of poetic meter having twelve syllables, usually divided into two or three equal parts.
    Synonym: Alexandrian
    • 2005, Rachel Killick, “Baudelaire's versification: conservative or radical?”, in Rosemary Lloyd, editor, The Cambridge Companion to Baudelaire, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 52:
      The dominant metre in Les Fleurs du Mal is the twelve-syllable alexandrine, the defining metre of French versification, with the eight-syllable line a distant runner-up and the ten-syllable line barely visible.

Translations

References

  1. ^ “alexandrine, adj.2 and n.2”, in OED Online ⁠‎[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000, archived from the original on 20 October 2023.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “alexandrine”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

French

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

alexandrine

  1. feminine singular of alexandrin
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