in ancient poetry, a sort of verse, so called from its consisting either wholly, or in a great measure, of iambuses. See IAMBUS.

Ruddiman makes two kinds of iambic verse, viz. dimeter and trimeter; the former containing four feet, and the latter six. And as to the variety of feet, they consist wholly of iambuses, as in the two following verses of Horace:

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Dim. | Ian. | sit | m. | stuo | [sua] | | Trim. | Sois | et | ipsa | Ro | [ma vi] | [ribus] | ruit. |

Or a dactyle, spondee, anapest, and sometimes a tribrachys, obtain in the odd places; and the tribrachys also in the even places, excepting the last. Examples of all this may be seen in Horace. Thus,

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Camidija | tra | [ctavit] | [dapes] | | Vide | re prope | rante | [domum] | | Quoque | scele | sti | rui | tis | aut | cur | dex | teris. | | Priusque | con | lum | si | det | in | ferius | marl. | | Altibus | at | que | cani | bus | homi | cld | He | [ctorem. | | Pavidum | que | lepo | r | aut | ad | venan | laqueo | gruem. |