Sapphic

(redirected from Sapphics)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia.

Sap·phic

 (săf′ĭk)
adj.
1. Of or relating to the Greek poet Sappho.
2.
a. Of, relating to, or being a verse characteristic of Sappho, containing 11 syllables and consisting of a trochee, a spondee or trochee, a dactyl, a trochee, and a spondee or trochee.
b. Relating to or being a stanza of three such verses followed by a verse consisting of a dactyl followed by a spondee or trochee.
c. Relating to or being an ode made up of such stanzas.
d. Of, relating to, or being a verse, stanza, or poem in accentual-syllabic meter composed in imitation of Sapphic quantitative verse.
n.
A Sapphic meter, verse, stanza, or ode.

sap·phic

 (săf′ĭk)
adj.
Of or relating to lesbianism.
[After Sappho, known for her homoerotic poetry.]
sap′phism (săf′ĭz′əm) adj.
sap′phist n. & adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sapphic

(ˈsæfɪk)
adj
1. (Poetry) prosody denoting a metre associated with Sappho, consisting generally of a trochaic pentameter line with a dactyl in the third foot
2. (Poetry) of or relating to Sappho or her poetry
3. lesbian
n
(Poetry) prosody a verse, line, or stanza written in the Sapphic form
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Sap•phic

(ˈsæf ɪk)

adj.
1. pertaining to Sappho or to certain meters or a form of strophe or stanza used by or named after her.
2. Lesbian (def. 3).
n.
3. a Sapphic verse.
[1495–1505; < Latin sapphicus < Greek sapphikós=Sapph(ṓ) Sappho + -ikos -ic]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.Sapphic - a meter used by Sappho and named after her
rhythmic, rhythmical - recurring with measured regularity; "the rhythmic chiming of church bells"- John Galsworthy; "rhythmical prose"
2.sapphic - of or relating to or characterized by homosexual relations between woman
lesbian
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

sapphic

[ˈsæfɪk] ADJ (= lesbian) → sáfico
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Sapphic

adj → sapphisch
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Mentioned in ?
References in periodicals archive ?
It takes its name from a fragment of Sappho's lamenting the death of Adonis which has that rhythm ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), and it forms the last line of the Sapphic strophe as well as having a ghostly presence in its other three lines.
Halfte des Lebens': Versuch uber Holderlins Poetik
sapphic Of, relating to, or consisting of an aeolic meter associated with the Greek lyric poet Sappho that scans as - U - U | - U U - | U - - (a sapphic hendecasyllable) or a four-line strophe that is characteristic of her verse.
sapphic

Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?