spondee

[spon-dee] /ˈspɒn di/
noun, Prosody
1.
a foot of two syllables, both of which are long in quantitative meter or stressed in accentual meter. Symbol: .
Origin of spondee
1350-1400; Middle English sponde < Latin spondēus < Greek spondeîos, derivative of spondḗ libation
Examples from the web for spondee
  • Sorrow is ever by the side of joy, the spondee beside the dactyl.
  • Released the way a spondee-struck sound is meant to be given and given.
British Dictionary definitions for spondee

spondee

/ˈspɒndiː/
noun
1.
(prosody) a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables (– –)
Word Origin
C14: from Old French spondée, from Latin spondēus, from Greek spondeios, from spondē a ritual libation; from the use of spondee in the music that characteristically accompanied such ceremonies
Word Origin and History for spondee
n.

late 14c., "metrical foot consisting of two long syllables," from Old French spondee, from Latin spondeus, from Greek spondeios (pous), the name of the meter originally used in chants accompanying libations, from sponde "solemn libation," related to spendein "make a drink offering," from PIE root *spend- "to make an offering, perform a rite," hence "to engage oneself by a ritual act" (cf. Latin spondere "to engage oneself, promise," Hittite shipantahhi "I pour out a libation, I sacrifice").

spondee in Medicine

spondee spon·dee (spŏn'dē')
n.
A word or metrical foot having two equally stressed syllables, used in testing speech and hearing.