stanza

[stan-zuh]

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

/ 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

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of stanza¹

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; stand, -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of stanza¹

C16: from Italian: halting place, from Vulgar Latin stantia (unattested) station, from Latin stāre to stand

Synonym Study

See verse.

Example Sentences

With every stanza, she settled into a musical rhythm that was satiric and bitingly honest.

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And two others, “No Fear” and “Happy With You,” repeat lyrics like mantras as the music builds around them, filling up over 11 minutes of music with just two stanzas of words.

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Crocker has changed his approach as he was now coming forward a bit more with his tight guard, and that was suiting Donovan, with the fight seemingly on a knife-edge heading into the final stanza.

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Blunt as his Charles is, he proves to be the most guarded of the trio; there are unsung stanzas of sadness in his eyes.

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“The word stops, the heart dies / The wind counts the lost goodbyes,” goes one characteristically haunting stanza.

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Related Words

• verse