sonnet

[son-it]

noun

1. Prosody.,  a poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes, being in the strict or Italian form divided into a major group of 8 lines (the octave) followed by a minor group of 6 lines (the sestet), and in a common English form into 3 quatrains followed by a couplet.

verb (used without object)

1. Archaic.,  to compose sonnets.

verb (used with object)

1. Older Use.,  to celebrate in a sonnet or sonnets.

sonnet

/ ˈsɒnɪt /

noun

1. a verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines in iambic pentameter with rhymes arranged according to a fixed scheme, usually divided either into octave and sestet or, in the English form, into three quatrains and a couplet

verb

1. (intr) to compose sonnets

2. (tr) to celebrate in a sonnet

sonnet

1. A lyric poem of fourteen lines, often about love, that follows one of several strict conventional patterns of rhyme. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Keats, and William Shakespeare are poets known for their sonnets.

Other Word Forms

• sonnetlike adjective
• outsonnet verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of sonnet¹

1550–60; < Italian sonnetto < Old Provençal sonet, equivalent to son poem (< Latin sonus sound ¹ ) + -et -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of sonnet¹

C16: via Italian from Old Provençal sonet a little poem, from son song, from Latin sonus a sound

Example Sentences

She could play chess, divide fractions, write in cursive, and do a strong-voiced recitation of at least three different Shakespearean sonnets.

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The book of Shakespeare’s sonnets had been a gift from her to Alexander at Christmas.

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The infatuated narrator toys with presenting his love-object with a copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets and dreams of bringing him over to London.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It even has a name: The Second Immortal Dinner, in which Blundy for the first time read his corona, a poem composed as a sequence of sonnets, that had been lost long ago.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That rude clatter is his equivalent of a sonnet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ballad 
• composition 
• epic 
• lyric 
• poetry 
• rhyme 
• verse 
• writing