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poesy

[poh-uh-see, -zee]
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noun, plural po·e·sies.
  1. the work or the art of poetic composition.
  2. Archaic.
    1. poetry in general.
    2. verse or poetry in metrical form.
  3. Obsolete.
    1. a poem or verse used as a motto.Compare posy(def 2).
    2. a poem.
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Origin of poesy

1300–50; Middle English poesie < Middle French < Latin poēsis < Greek poíēsis poetic art, poetry, literally, a making, equivalent to poiē-, variant stem of poieîn to make + -sis -sis
Can be confusedpoesy posey posy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

songbeatcreationrhymepoetrywritingoderimeverselyricwordsepiccompositionballadsonnetlineslimerickhaikurunequatrain

Examples from the Web for poesy

Historical Examples

  • At least I can do none of these things, and poesy wearies me to read, much more to write.

    Fair Margaret

    H. Rider Haggard

  • How difficult then to ascertain the truth respecting our poesy and music!

  • And he is wise too; for he is a poet, and the author of poesy in others.

  • Neither of the partners in poesy had the least idea of anything more than being just that.

    The Portygee

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • The daisy (Saxon Daeges ege) has often been cited as fragrant with poesy.

British Dictionary definitions for poesy

poesy

noun plural -sies
  1. an archaic word for poetry
  2. poetic the art of writing poetry
  3. archaic, or poetic a poem or verse, esp one used as a motto
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Word Origin

C14: via Old French from Latin poēsis, from Greek, from poiēsis poetic art, creativity, from poiein to make
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

Word Origin and History for poesy

n.

late 14c., "poetry; poetic language and ideas; literature; a poem, a passage of poetry," from Old French poesie (mid-14c.), from Vulgar Latin poesia (source of Provençal, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian poesia), from Latin poesis "poetry, a poem," from Greek poesis "composition, poetry," literally "a making, fabrication," variant of poiesis, from poein, poiein "to make or compose" (see poet). Meaning "the art of poetry" is late 15c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper