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stanza

[stan-zuh]
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noun Prosody.

an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem.

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RELATED WORDS

verse, refrain, strophe, division, stave

Nearby words

  1. stanovoy range,
  2. stans,
  3. stanton,
  4. stanton, edwin mcmasters,
  5. stanton, elizabeth cady,
  6. stanzaic,
  7. stapedectomy,
  8. stapedes,
  9. stapedial,
  10. stapediotenotomy

Origin of stanza

1580–90; < Italian: room, station, stopping-place (plural stanze) < Vulgar Latin *stantia, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns), present participle of stāre to stand + -ia -y3
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stanza

British Dictionary definitions for stanza

stanza

noun

prosody a fixed number of verse lines arranged in a definite metrical pattern, forming a unit of a poem
US and Australian a half or a quarter in a football match
Derived Formsstanzaed, adjectivestanzaic (stænˈzeɪɪk), adjective

Word Origin for stanza

C16: from Italian: halting place, from Vulgar Latin stantia (unattested) station, from Latin stāre to stand
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 stanza

stanza

n.

"group of rhymed verse lines," 1580s, from Italian stanza "verse of a poem," originally "standing, stopping place," from Vulgar Latin *stantia "a stanza of verse," so called from the stop at the end of it, from Latin stans (genitive stantis), present participle of stare "to stand" (see stet).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for stanza

stanza

A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.