English
iamb
Iamb comes from Latin ïambus ‘iamb, iambus’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἴαμβος.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἴαμβοςíambos‘iamb, a metrical foot’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEïambus‘iamb, iambus’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentiambe
- Englishtodayiamb
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἴαμβοςíambos‘iamb, a metrical foot’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEïambus‘iamb, iambus’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentiambe
- Englishtodayiamb
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’
year, project, hour, disease, object, ease, jet, adjacent, injection, jess, trajectory, inject, conjecture, gist, ejection, jetty, abject, eject, ejaculation, ejaculate, jettison, jut, subjection, interject, joist, jetsam, 43 more
through Ancient Greek ἵημι ‘to send, throw’
Today it means
noun A metrical foot in verse consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἴαμβος / iamb