Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Anapest

Anapest ({not transcribed}) , noun

[Latin anapaestus, Greek {not transcribed} an anapest, i.e., a dactyl reserved, or, as it were, struck back; from {not transcribed}; 'ana` back + {not transcribed} to strike.]

1.
(Prosody) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the first two short, or unaccented, the last long, or accented (c c -); the reverse of the dactyl. In Latin de-i-tās, and in English in-ter-veneb, are examples of anapests.
2.
A verse composed of such feet.