Ep'ōde, n.

n. [Gr. ἐπῳδός, from ἐπῳδός, a., singing to, sung or said after, from ἐπᾴδειν, to sing to, from ἐπί and ᾄδειν, to sing; Lat. epodos; Fr. épode.] (Poet.) (a.) The third or last part of the ode; that which follows the strophe and antistrophe; the ancient ode being divided into strophe, antistrophe, and epode. (b.) A species of lyric poem invented by Archilochus, in which a longer verse is followed by a shorter one; as, the Epodes of Horace. It does not include the elegiac distich.