Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Epitrite , noun

[Greek {not transcribed} containing an integer and one third (i. e., f, or in the ratio of 4 to 3); 'epi` upon, over + {not transcribed} the third: compare Latin epitritos, French épitrite.]

It is so called from being compounded of a spondee (which contains 4 times) with an iambus or a trochee (which contains 3 times). It is called 1st, 2d, 3d, or 4th epitrite according as the short syllable stands 1st, 2d, etc.