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hokku

[ haw-koo, hok-oo ]

noun

, Prosody.
, plural hok·ku.
  1. the opening verse of a linked verse series.


hokku

/ ˈhɒkuː /

noun

  1. prosody another word for haiku
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of hokku1

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Japanese, from hok “departure, start” (akin to Cantonese faat, Korean bal, Mandarin ) + ku “phrase, stanza” (akin to Cantonese geoi, Korean gu, Mandarin )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hokku1

from Japanese, from hok beginning + ku hemistich
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Example Sentences

The most attenuated form of all is the hokku (or haikai) which consists of only three lines, namely, 17 syllables.

He reformed the hokku, by introducing into everything he wrote a deep spiritual significance underlying the words.

The concluding hemistich, whereby the hokku becomes the tanka, is existent in the writer's mind, but never uttered.

The reader can now see for himself what the main object of the hokku poetry is, and what it achieved.

That is not to say, that, by taking the letter for the spirit, we should in any way strive to imitate the hokku form.

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