Pentameter (from Greek: πεντάμετρος - 'measuring five (feet)') is a poetic meter. А poem is said to be written in (a particular) pentameter when the lines of the poem have the length of five feet, one foot being a combination of a particular number (1 or 2) of unstressed, or weak, syllables and a stressed, or strong syllable. Depending on the pattern of feet, pentameter can be, for example, iambic (one of two possible two-syllable meters) or dactylic (one of three possible three-syllable meters) (see links below).
It may refer to:
- the iambic pentameter of the modern period
- the dactylic pentameter of antiquity