SAPPHIC, adjective saf'ic. Pertaining to Sappho, a Grecian poetess; as sapphic odes; sapphic verse. The sapphic verse consists of eleven syllables in five feet, of which the first, fourth and fifth are trochees, the second a spondee, and the third a dactyl, in the first three lines of each stanza, with a fourth consisting only of a dactyl and a spondee.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI