trochee

UK: /ˈtrəʊkiː/ US: (trō′kē)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tro•chee  (trō′kē), n. [Pros.]

1. Poetry a foot of two syllables, a long followed by a short in quantitative meter, or a stressed followed by an unstressed in accentual meter.

• Greek (poùs), trochaîos running (foot), equivalent. to troch- (variant stem of tréchein to run) + -aios adjective, adjectival suffix
• Latin trochaeus
• 1580–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

trochee / ˈtrəʊkiː/ noun

1. a metrical foot of two syllables, the first long and the second short ()
   Compare iamb

Etymology: 16th Century: via Latin from Greek trokhaios pous, literally: a running foot, from trekhein to run