prose

[prohz]

noun

1. the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.

2. matter-of-fact, commonplace, or dull expression, quality, discourse, etc.

3. Liturgy.,  a hymn sung after the gradual, originating from a practice of setting words to the jubilatio of the alleluia.

adjective

1. of, in, or pertaining to prose.

2. commonplace; dull; prosaic.

verb (used with object)

prosed, prosing 

1. to turn into or express in prose.

verb (used without object)

prosed, prosing 

1. to write or talk in a dull, matter-of-fact manner.

prose

/ prəʊz /

noun

1. spoken or written language as in ordinary usage, distinguished from poetry by its lack of a marked metrical structure

2. a passage set for translation into a foreign language

3. commonplace or dull discourse, expression, etc

4. RC Church a hymn recited or sung after the gradual at Mass

5. (modifier) written in prose

6. (modifier) matter-of-fact

verb

1. to write or say (something) in prose

2. (intr) to speak or write in a tedious style

Other Word Forms

• proselike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prose¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin prōsa (ōrātiō), literally, “straightforward (speech),” feminine of prōsus, prōrsus, contraction of prōversus “turned forward,” past participle of prōvertere “to turn forward,” equivalent to prō- pro- ¹ + vertere “to turn”

Word History and Origins

Origin of prose¹

C14: via Old French from Latin phrase prōsa ōrātiō straightforward speech, from prorsus prosaic, from prōvertere to turn forwards, from _pro- ¹ + vertere to turn

Example Sentences

The entries, provided by a wide range of writers, journalists and academics, are a little uneven, but the presentation is so good that it’s hard to mind that the prose doesn’t always hit its mark.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This intimate volume includes slices of memoir, critical essays and appreciations of other authors, among them Ross Macdonald, whose prose she finds “so elegant and rich as to drive any writer to fits of envy.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His prose is often dense, his judgment severe.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It doesn’t help that Ms. Doucet’s prose, replete with stock expressions, is tiresomely banal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He's poured a metaphorical can of Australian beer over the novel by converting Tolstoy's prose into a lingo that wouldn't sound out of place in the popular Aussie sitcom Kath & Kim.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• composition 
• essay 
• fiction 
• nonfiction 
• speech 
• story 
• text 
• writing