Hex*am"e*ter (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?; of six meters; (sc. &?;) hexameter verse; "e`x six + &?; measure: cf. F. hexamètre. See Six, and Meter.] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Iliad of Homer and the Æneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity.

Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland the | voice of the | huntsman.

Strongly it | bears us a- | long on | swelling and | limitless | billows,
Nothing be- | fore and | nothing be- | hind but the | sky and the | ocean.

Hex*am"e*ter, a. Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees. Holland.

• a line in a poem having six metrical feet
  
• a poetic metre in which each line has six feet