penta-, pent-, pente-, pento-

(Greek: five; a number used as a prefix)

pentadelphous (adjective) (not comparable)
In botany, a reference to stamens that are united by the filaments in five bundles: Pentadelphous flowers can be exemplified by the ones of the linden or lime tree.
pentagamist
One who has five spouses.
pentagamous
A reference to being married to five spouses at the same time.
pentagamy
Being married to five spouses at the same time.
pentaglot
pentagon, Pentagon
1. A shape with five sides, usually of equal length, and angles greater than 90°.
2. A two-dimensional geometric figure formed of five sides and five angles.
3. When capitalized, it is the government building in Washington, D.C. with five sides which serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.

The Pentagon houses the main offices for the armed services of the United States and the military personnel who work in this building.

pentagonal
pentagram
1. A series of five letters or characters.
2. A two-dimensional geometric figure that is in the shape of a star, with five points; especially, one which is used as a magical or an occult symbol.
3. A star with five points; formed by five straight lines between the vertices of a pentagon and enclosing another pentagon figure with five sides in the center.
pentagynous
In botany, having five pistils.
pentahedral
pentahedron
pentalemma (s) (noun), pentalemmas (pl)
An argument related to a situation involving five undesirable results.
pentalogy
pentamerous
pentameter (s), pentameters (pl) (nouns)
1. A line of poetry with five strong beats or a line of verse consisting of five units of rhythm; such as, five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. English verse composed in iambic pentameter.

The third line of Thomas Nashe's "Spring" is in pentameter: "Cold doth / not sting, / the pret / ty birds / do sing."

Spring

SPRING, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet-
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet Spring!

—Thomas Nashe (1567–1601)

Iambic pentameter, in which each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable, is the most common English poetic meter.

When a good actor recites lines from one of Shakespeare's plays, the audience is not constantly aware that he is speaking poetry written in iambic pentameter.