hepta-, hept-

(Greek: seven; normally used as a prefix)

heptameter (s) (nouns), heptameters (pl)
A line or verse of poetry that contains seven metrical feet (basic unit of rhythm of verse): "A heptameter consists of fourteen or twenty-one syllables."

"In English poetry, a meter is the systematic arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables in regular, repeated patterns and any line with a metrical scheme can be divided into units called feet; including the following lines of poetry:

  • monometer (one foot)
  • dimeter (two feet)
  • trimeter (three feet)
  • tetrameter (four feet)
  • pentameter (five feet)
  • hexameter (six feet)
  • heptameter (seven feet)
  • octameter (eight feet)
heptander (s) (noun), heptanders (pl)
In botany, certain plants that have seven stamens: "Trina noticed that she had some heptanders among her collections of flowers."
heptandrous (adjective) (not comparable)
Plants that have seven stamens or male, pollen-bearing organs of flowers.
heptangular (hep-TANG-you-luhr) (adjective) (not comparable)
A reference to a format that has seven sharp corners or intersections: Students in the math class were learning that there are figures that have triangles (three angles), quadrangles (four angles), and that there are even heptangular forms that have seven angles.
heptarch (s) (nouns), heptarchs (pl)
A ruler of one of seven divisions of a country: "Alex was one of the heptarchs of the nations heptarchy."
heptarchy (s) (nouns), heptarchies (pl)
A government by seven rulers; an aggregate of seven districts or petty kingdoms, each under its own ruler: "A heptarchy is one the seven kingdoms reckoned to have been established by the Angles and Saxons in Britain."
heptastich (s) (noun) (no plurals)
1. A composition consisting of seven lines or verses.
2. A seven-line stanza or poem.
Heptasuchus (s) (noun)
The "seven crocodile" named from the Greek hepta, "seven" probably in reference to "1977", the year the incomplete specimen was discovered.

From Late Triassic North America and named by Dawley, Zawiskie, and Cosgriff in 1979.

Heptateuch (s) (noun) (no plural)
A term used for the first seven books of the Bible: "The Heptateuch consists of the following seven books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges."
heptathlon (s) (noun), heptathlons (pl) (nouns)
An athletic contest for women comprising seven different track-and-field events and won by the contestant accumulating the highest total score: "The heptahlon includes the following seven track and field events: 200-meter and 800-meter runs, 100-meter hurdles, a shot put, the javelin throw, a high jump, and the long jump."
heptatonic (adjective) (not comparable)
A musical scale with seven pitches for each octave.