noun
- metrical feet in poetry consisting of a long syllable, a short syllable, and a long syllable
Usage: poetry; prosody
Examples
- The poet used cretics to create a distinctive rhythm in the verse.
- Classical Latin poetry often employed cretics for emphasis.
- Students of prosody must learn to identify cretics in ancient texts.
- The cretics in this line give it a stately, measured quality.
- Cretics are less common than iambs or trochees in English poetry.