spondee

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈspɒndi/^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English sponde,^[2][3][4] from Middle French spondee,^[2][5][6][3] from Latin spondeus,^{[2][5][6][3][4]} from Ancient Greek σπονδεῖος (spondeîos, “of a libation”),^{[2][5][6][3][4]} from spondḗ “libation, drink offering”,^{[2][5][6][3][4]} because the metre was used in chants accompanying libations.^[2][5][6][3] It is related to sponsor and spouse.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A metrical foot of two long syllables (before 1382 in Barnhart; before 1390 in the OED).^[5][7][6]

Semantic evolution

In accentual verse the term applies to a foot of two stressed syllables.^[2][3][4] The adjective spondaic is recorded from 1722.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1382 – a foot of two long syllables.^[5][7]
• 1589 – spondiac in Puttenham.^[6]
• 1722 – spondaic.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A metrical foot of two long or stressed syllables.

Word family

• spondaic

Related words

• sponsor
• spouse
• iamb
• trochee

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press