stanza

American  

[stan-zuh] / ˈstæn zə /

noun

Prosody.

1. an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem.

---

stanza British  

/ ˈstænzə, stænˈzeɪɪk /

noun

1. prosody a fixed number of verse lines arranged in a definite metrical pattern, forming a unit of a poem

2. a half or a quarter in a football match

---

stanza Cultural  

1. A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.

---

Synonym Usage

See verse.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stanzaed
  adjective
• nonstanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaically
  adverb
• unstanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stanza

First recorded in 1580–90; from Italian: literally, “room, station, stopping-place” (plural stanze ), from unattested Vulgar Latin stantia, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns ), present participle of stāre “to stand” + -ia abstract noun suffix; see stand, -y ³

Explanation

Stanzas are the building blocks of formal poetry, like paragraphs in a story or verses in a song. They usually have the same number of lines each time, and often use a rhyming pattern that repeats with each new stanza. Shakespeare was the master of the stanza. His sonnets had three stanzas that were each four lines long, and then a two-line stanza at the end, all with a very particular rhyme and rhythm pattern. Poems with stanzas always have some sort of structure to them, but not all poetry uses stanzas, for example — free verse tends to be wild poetry without structural rules.

Example Sentences

The idea is that if you write on the Stanza and then double tap your notes, they’ll be instantly converted to digital text.

From The Verge • Dec. 15, 2021

It covers one of the walls of the Stanza della Segnatura, one of the Raphael Rooms at the Vatican.

From Slate • May 28, 2020

My first car out of school was an imported Datsun Stanza SSS, but I was soon drawn back into the Aussie blue-oval fold.

From The Guardian • May 28, 2013

One vehicular victim: Patricia and Henry Schmidt’s maroon 1992 Nissan Stanza, which was parked in front of their house, on Goldington Court in Middle Village.

From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2010

But our Poets seldom imploy this Stanza in Compositions of their own; where the following Stanzas of 8 Verses are most frequent.

From The Art of English Poetry (1708) by Bysshe, Edward

Related Words

• verse