也作 metre,“诗歌韵律,韵律方案,语言在一系列韵律运动中的排列”,古英语 meter “米,韵律”,来自拉丁语 mētrum,源自希腊语 metron “米,诗行;测量任何事物的标准;测量,长度,大小,限制,比例”(来自原始印欧语根 *me- (2) “测量”)。
这个词可能在14世纪早期重新借用(在记录使用中有300年的间隔),来自古法语 metre,具有“诗中的韵律方案”的特定意义,源自拉丁语 mētrum。
作为 pentameter、 tetrameter 等词素的使用,被那些看到它如何错误应用经典术语的人所反对。
Of late years, in modern English prosody-writing, though fortunately not universally, a most objectionable habit has grown up of calling the heroic line a "pentameter," the octosyllabic iambic a "tetrameter." This is grossly unscholarly, and should never be imitated, for the proper meaning of the terms would be ten feet in the one case, eight in the other. [George Saintsbury, "Historical Manual of English Prosody," 1911]
近年来,在现代英语韵律写作中,尽管幸运的是并非普遍存在,出现了一种最令人反感的习惯,称英雄诗行为“pentameter”,八音节抑扬格为“tetrameter”。这在学术上是极其不严谨的,绝不应模仿,因为这些术语的正确意义应为 ten feet in the one case, eight in the other. [George Saintsbury, "Historical Manual of English Prosody," 1911]