couplet

noun

cou·​plet ˈkə-plət 

1

: two successive lines of verse forming a unit marked usually by rhythmic correspondence, rhyme, or the inclusion of a self-contained utterance : distich

She ended her poem with a rhyming couplet.

2

: couple

Synonyms

• pair
• couple
• duo
• twain

Examples of couplet in a Sentence

a poem made up of six couplets

a couplet of statues flank the entrance to the church

Recent Examples on the Web

Algorithms for Toddlers is a whole semester of undergraduate algorithms condensed into 14 illustrated pages with rhyming couplets. —Quanta Magazine, 7 Aug. 2025

One couplet in, your breathing will calm, and your mind will clear. —Patricia Steckler, Baltimore Sun, 21 July 2025

One rhyming couplet instructs a young man to get an adze, or ax, when the Pleiades are overhead. —Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 14 July 2025

The couplet, contrasting the speaker’s good advice with more nefarious influences, reveals the danger of outsourcing one’s moral vision to others. —Merve Emre, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, diminutive of Old French cuple, couple — see couple entry 1

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing couplet

• closed couplet
• heroic couplet

Kids Definition

couplet

noun

cou·​plet ˈkəp-lət 

: two lines of verse that follow in order and form a unit

especially : two rhyming lines of the same length