pyrrhic adj

1 of or relating to a war dance of ancient Greece; "pyrrhic dance movements"

2 of or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables; "pyrrhic verses"

3 of or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans); "a Pyrrhic victory"

1 a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables [syn: dibrach]

2 an ancient Greek dance imitating the motions of warfare

English

Etymology

From pyrrhichius < πυρρίχιος < πυρρίχη (war dance).

Pronunciation

• italbrac RP /'pɪr.ɪk/

Adjective

1. Of or characterized by pyrrhics.

Translations

Noun

1. An Ancient Greek war dance.
2. A metric foot with two short or unaccented syllables.

Related terms

• Pyrrhic victory

A pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.

Tennyson used pyrrhics and spondees quite frequently. Here are some examples:

Be near me when my light is low,

When the blood creeps and the nerves prick

And tingle; and the heart is sick,

And all the wheels of Being slow.

-from In Memoriam.

Example above include "When the" and "and the" in the second line and "-le; and" in the third.

Pyrrhics alone are not used to construct an entire poem due to the monotonous effect.

References

Alexandrine, accent, accentuation, amphibrach, amphimacer, anacrusis, anapest, antispast, antispastic, arsis, bacchius, beat, cadence, cadenced, caesura, catalexis, chloriamb, chloriambus, colon, counterpoint, cretic, dactyl, dactylic, dactylic hexameter, diaeresis, dimeter, dipody, dochmiac, elegiac, elegiac couplet, elegiac pentameter, emphasis, epitrite, feminine caesura, foot, heptameter, heptapody, heroic couplet, hexameter, hexapody, iamb, iambic, iambic pentameter, ictus, ionic, jingle, lilt, masculine caesura, measure, measured, meter, metric, metrical accent, metrical foot, metrical group, metrical unit, metron, molossus, mora, movement, numbers, paeon, pentameter, pentapody, period, proceleusmatic, prosodic, quantity, rhythm, rhythmic, scanning, spondaic, spondee, sprung rhythm, stress, swing, syzygy, tetrameter, tetrapody, tetraseme, thesis, tribrach, trimeter, tripody, triseme, trochaic, trochee