Having or containing syllables that differ in quantity, stress, or length, particularly in the analysis of verse or language.
From Greek 'hetero-' (different) and 'syllabe' (syllable). Used in classical and modern linguistics and prosody to describe variation in syllable properties.
In poetry, heterosyllabic verse breaks the regular pattern—instead of all short syllables or all long ones, you get a mixture, which poets use to create rhythm variations that mimic natural speech. English poetry is mostly heterosyllabic, unlike the very strict Latin quantitative verse.
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