common meter

2 definitions found

common meter - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Meter \Me"ter\, Metre \Me"tre\, n. [OE. metre, F. m[`e]tre, L.
     metrum, fr. Gr. ?; akin to Skr. m[=a] to measure. See Mete
     to measure.]
     1. Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses,
        stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on
        number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm;
        measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical
        arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The only strict antithesis to prose is meter.
                                                    --Wordsworth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A poem. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia).
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the
        standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights
        and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly,
        the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to
        the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an
        arc of a meridian. See Metric system, under Metric.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Common meter (Hymnol.), four iambic verses, or lines,
        making a stanza, the first and third having each four
        feet, and the second and fourth each three feet; --
        usually indicated by the initials C. M.
  
     Long meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines of four feet
        each, four verses usually making a stanza; -- commonly
        indicated by the initials L. M.
  
     Short meter (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines, the first,
        second, and fourth having each three feet, and the third
        four feet. The stanza usually consists of four lines, but
        is sometimes doubled. Short meter is indicated by the
        initials S. M.
        [1913 Webster]

common meter - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  common meter
      n 1: the usual (iambic) meter of a ballad [syn: common measure
           , common meter]