poesy

American  

[poh-uh-see, -zee] / ˈpoʊ ə si, -zi /

noun

poesies plural

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.

   2. a poem.

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poesy British  

/ ˈpəʊɪzɪ /

noun

1. an archaic word for poetry

2. poetic the art of writing poetry

3. archaic a poem or verse, esp one used as a motto

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• poesies
  plural

Etymology

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

Explanation

Poesy is a category of literature that includes rhythmic or rhyming verse. You might feel a little shy about your own attempts at poesy, especially if every single one of your verses starts with the line "Roses are red, violets are blue..." If you need an old-fashioned way to talk about poetry or the art of writing poems, use poesy. You can tell your English teacher you prefer poesy to prose, especially if you're partial to short, rhyming poems. Back in the 14th century, this word was a common way to refer to the craft of writing verse. It comes from the Greek root poesis, "poetry" or "a making."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poesy poesies

She eventually expanded into jewelry, offering oval filigree lockets, enamel vermeil zodiac charms and stackable gold bands that riff on 15th-century poesy rings.

From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2022

The White Album’s tonal and visual proximities begin with The Pure and the Damned, the music video from Oneohtrix Point Never featuring Iggy Pop’s eerie poesy, from the 2017 film Good Time.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 11, 2018

Costner delivers Dutton’s threats, pleas, and cowboy poesy in a rasp.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 20, 2018

To learn grammar was to appreciate the book’s poesy, which in turn was to break open a once-inaccessible text.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2017

No more of Rome, enlighten'd by her beams, Fresh kindling there the fire of eloquence, And poesy divine; imperial Rome!

From The Poems of Philip Freneau, Volume I (of III) by Freneau, Philip

"Camille thinks youth and beauty the first of poesies," said Claude Vignon.

From Beatrix by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott

They praised each other's beauties ingenuously, spending treasures of language on these secret idylls, inventing soft exaggerations and more diminutives than the ancient muse of Tibullus, or the poesies of Italy.

From The Hated Son by Balzac, Honoré de

Monsieur Vanderbourg! for that gentleman is the ostensible editor of Clotilde’s poesies of the fifteenth century, some ingenious persons are unlucky in this world!

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac

And so I keep mine uncompanioned ways; And so my touch, to golden poesies Turning love's bread, is bought at hunger's price.

From Sister Songs; an offering to two sisters by Thompson, Francis

In 1855 she published Contes en vers, and in 1862 Contes et poesies.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg