I*am"bus (?), n.; pl. L. Iambi (#), E. Iambuses (#). [L. iambus, Gr. ; prob. akin to to throw, assail (the iambus being first used in satiric poetry), and to L. jacere to throw. Cf. Jet a shooting forth.] Pros.
A foot consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, as in &acr;mans, or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one, as invent; an iambic. See the Couplet under Iambic, n.
© Webster 1913.