poetics

American  

[poh-et-iks] / poʊˈɛt ɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. literary criticism treating of the nature and laws of poetry.

2. the study of prosody.

3. a treatise on poetry.

4. (initial capital letter, italics) a treatise or collection of notes on aesthetics (4th century b.c.) by Aristotle.

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poetics British  

/ pəʊˈɛtɪks /

noun

1. the principles and forms of poetry or the study of these, esp as a form of literary criticism

2. a treatise on poetry

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Etymology

Origin of poetics

First recorded in 1720–30; see origin at poetic, -ics

Explanation

The theory of literary techniques involved in composing verse and prose is known as poetics. If you study poetics in college, you'll read, talk, and think about a lot of literature. Poetics goes back to the Greek poietikos, "pertaining to poetry," or literally, "productive or creative." While poetry is evident in this word, you can use it to describe a deep study of any kind of literary work. When it's capitalized, Poetics usually refers to the title of a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, which is the earliest known Western work of literary theory.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poetics

“The heroes, the poetics, the material culture, the everyday,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

Described in the wall text as a “living matryoshka doll,” the collection of eight pieces shown on one model distills the V&R poetics: a powerful idea, a performance-oriented presentation, a sense of wonder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

So yeah, highly intentional sort of hydrological poetics, and then, and then two complete surprises.

From Salon ● May 28, 2025

I feared that “The Mother” might repeat the mistake of “The Room,” the troupe’s staging of Pinter’s early one-act that only exposed an unbridgeable gulf in poetics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023

A half hour later, Werner and Frederick are reading Goethe in poetics.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr