verse

¹verse

noun \ˈvərs\

Definition of VERSE

1

: a line of metrical writing

2

a (1) : metrical language (2) : metrical writing distinguished from poetry especially by its lower level of intensity (3) : poetry 2 b : poem c : a body of metrical writing (as of a period or country)

3

: stanza

4

: one of the short divisions into which a chapter of the Bible is traditionally divided

Examples of VERSE

1. The epic tale was written in verse.
2. The second verse is sung the same way as the first.

Origin of VERSE

Middle English vers, fers, from Anglo-French vers & Old English fers, both from Latin versus, literally, turning, from vertere to turn — more at worth

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to VERSE

Synonyms: lyric, rune, song, poem

Antonyms: prose

Related Words: rhyme (also rime); ballad, lay; anacreontic, clerihew, dithyramb, eclogue, elegy, English sonnet, epic, epigram, epode, epopee, epos, georgic, idyll (also idyl), jingle, lament, limerick, madrigal, ode, pastoral, pastorale, psalm, rondeau, rondel (or rondelle), rondelet, sonnet, triolet, villanelle; haiku, senryu, tanka; blank verse, free verse, minstrelsy, poesy, poetry, versification, vers libre

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with VERSE

birse, burse, curse, Erse, hearse, nurse, perse, purse, terce, terse, worse