sestina

[ se-stee-nuh ]
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noun,plural ses·ti·nas, ses·ti·ne [se-stee-ney]. /sɛˈsti neɪ/. Prosody.
  1. a poem of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy, originally without rhyme, in which each stanza repeats the end words of the lines of the first stanza, but in different order, the envoy using the six words again, three in the middle of the lines and three at the end.

Origin of sestina

1
1580–90; <Italian, equivalent to sest(o) (<Latin sextussixth) + -ina-ine2

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British Dictionary definitions for sestina

sestina

/ (sɛˈstiːnə) /


noun
  1. an elaborate verse form of Italian origin, normally unrhymed, consisting of six stanzas of six lines each and a concluding tercet. The six final words of the lines in the first stanza are repeated in a different order in each of the remaining five stanzas and also in the concluding tercet: Also called: sextain

Origin of sestina

1
C19: from Italian, from sesto sixth, from Latin sextus

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