View source for Distich - hemistich - stichomythia

The [[Greek]] word στίχος (''stichos''), meaning ‘row’ or ‘line’ and used of, e.g., a file of soldiers, a row of trees, a course of masonry, or a line of verse, is the central [[root]] of a number of English technical terms.

'''In [[prosody]]''':

*a '''distich''' is a [[poem]], [[stanza]] or [[strophe]] of two lines – for which an alternative word would be [[couplet]]. The associated [[adjective]] is '''distichal'''. For the words for [[poem]]s, [[stanza]]s or [[strophe]]s of three or more lines, see [[Greek numerical prefixes for groups]].

*a '''hemistich''' is a half-line of verse. In some [[poetic form]]s each line of verse must be clearly divided into two half-lines (i.e., '''hemistichs''') with a break or [[caesura]] between them. See, [[Alliterative verse]].

*'''stichomythia''' (pronounced with the stress on the third [[syllable]], {{IPA|,stɪ kəʊ 'mɪ θɪ ə}}) or '''stichomythy''' (pronounced with the stress on the second [[syllable]], {{IPA|stɪ 'kɒ mɪ θɪ}}) is a form of dialogue in which single lines of verse are spoken in turn by alternate speakers. '''Stichomythia''' was common in ancient Greek tragedies and comedies but is also found in English drama. Here, as an example, is a short passage from Shakespeare’s ''The Merchant of Venice'', IV  i, lines 65-69:

::Shylock: I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
::Bassanio: Do all men kill the things they do not love?
::Shylock: Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
::Bassanio: Every offence is not a hate at first.
::Shylock: What! woulds’t thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

Other Shakespearean examples are to be found in ''Richard III'', I ii, lines 193-203 and ''Hamlet'' III iv, lines 8-14.

*'''stichometry''' (pronounced with the stress on the second [[syllable]], {{IPA|stɪ 'kɒ mɪ trɪ}}) is the practice of writing out a piece of prose in lines of different lengths that correspond to its constituent sense units and so clarify the way in which it should be spoken.
   
'''In botany'''

*the [[adjective]] '''distichous''' – not '''distichal''' (for which see above) -  means ‘arranged in two rows’ and is used with reference to the arrangement of leaves on a plant. A plant is '''distichous''' if its leaves are arranged in two vertical rows on opposite sides of the stem. (If a plant has three vertical rows of leaves, it is '''tristichous'''; and for the appropriate prefixes for plants with a greater number of rows see [[Greek numerical prefixes for groups]].)

'''In zoology'''
 
*the [[adjective]] '''distichous''' is used to mean ‘divided into two parts’.


[[Category:Etymology]][[Category:Technical terms]][[Category:Etymology]][[Category:Prosody]]