Petrarch

American  

[pee-trahrk, pe-] / ˈpi trɑrk, ˈpɛ- /

noun

1. Francesco Petrarca, 1304–74, Italian poet and scholar.

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Petrarch British  

/ ˈpɛtrɑːk /

noun

1. Italian name Francesco Petrarca. 1304–74, Italian lyric poet and scholar, who greatly influenced the values of the Renaissance. His collection of poems Canzoniere, inspired by his ideal love for Laura, was written in the Tuscan dialect. He also wrote much in Latin, esp the epic poem Africa (1341) and the Secretum (1342), a spiritual self-analysis

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Other Word Forms

• Petrarchan
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Petrarch

Tarot fell into the latter category as a sort of trick-taking game that required strategy and whose inspiration came from the “Triumphs,” a series of allegorical 14th-century poems by Petrarch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

But the diamond-shaped panel does illustrate a line from the poet Petrarch about chasing desire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2021

The works of Chaucer, Petrarch and Christine de Pizan celebrate the uniqueness of the individual, savoring the moment and often drawing attention to the messiness of the human experience.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2020

Petrarch was responsible for coming up with the very idea of the “Dark Ages” that had separated his own era from the greatness of the classical past.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

But Italian was the language of Dante and of Petrarch.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton