prose

[prohz]

noun

1. the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.

2. matter-of-fact, commonplace, or dull expression, quality, discourse, etc.

3. Liturgy.,  a hymn sung after the gradual, originating from a practice of setting words to the jubilatio of the alleluia.

adjective

1. of, in, or pertaining to prose.

2. commonplace; dull; prosaic.

verb (used with object)

prosed, prosing 

1. to turn into or express in prose.

verb (used without object)

prosed, prosing 

1. to write or talk in a dull, matter-of-fact manner.

prose

/ prəʊz /

noun

1. spoken or written language as in ordinary usage, distinguished from poetry by its lack of a marked metrical structure

2. a passage set for translation into a foreign language

3. commonplace or dull discourse, expression, etc

4. RC Church a hymn recited or sung after the gradual at Mass

5. (modifier) written in prose

6. (modifier) matter-of-fact

verb

1. to write or say (something) in prose

2. (intr) to speak or write in a tedious style

Other Word Forms

• proselike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prose¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin prōsa (ōrātiō), literally, “straightforward (speech),” feminine of prōsus, prōrsus, contraction of prōversus “turned forward,” past participle of prōvertere “to turn forward,” equivalent to prō- pro- ¹ + vertere “to turn”

Word History and Origins

Origin of prose¹

C14: via Old French from Latin phrase prōsa ōrātiō straightforward speech, from prorsus prosaic, from prōvertere to turn forwards, from _pro- ¹ + vertere to turn

Example Sentences

Wideman’s 1985 essay “The Language of Home” was about the power of words to capture our foundations, so it’s fitting that his new collection covering 50 years of his powerful prose mimics that essay’s title.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The book’s finest pieces wrangle, in elegant prose, with humanity’s contradictions; the weaker ones indulge in name-dropping, footnotes and op-ed invective.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The influential critic Edmund Wilson, who helped establish Hemingway’s literary reputation, perceptively stated “his prose is of the first distinction” and conveys “profound emotions and complex states of mind.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There is nothing subtle here, and even readers inclined to agree with Mr. Smith may cringe at his heated prose.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“My father lived often in darkness, although his prose is filled with light,” she now believes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• composition 
• essay 
• fiction 
• nonfiction 
• speech 
• story 
• text 
• writing