stanza

American  

[stan-zuh] / ˈstæn zə /

noun

Prosody.

1. 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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stanza British  

/ ˈstænzə, stænˈzeɪɪk /

noun

1. prosody a fixed number of verse lines arranged in a definite metrical pattern, forming a unit of a poem

2. a half or a quarter in a football match

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stanza Cultural  

1. 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.

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Synonym Usage

See verse.

Other Word Forms

• nonstanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaed
  adjective
• stanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaical
  adjective
• stanzaically
  adverb
• unstanzaic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stanza

First recorded in 1580–90; from Italian: literally, “room, station, stopping-place” (plural stanze ), from unattested Vulgar Latin stantia, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns ), present participle of stāre “to stand” + -ia abstract noun suffix; see stand, -y ³

Explanation

Stanzas are the building blocks of formal poetry, like paragraphs in a story or verses in a song. They usually have the same number of lines each time, and often use a rhyming pattern that repeats with each new stanza. Shakespeare was the master of the stanza. His sonnets had three stanzas that were each four lines long, and then a two-line stanza at the end, all with a very particular rhyme and rhythm pattern. Poems with stanzas always have some sort of structure to them, but not all poetry uses stanzas, for example — free verse tends to be wild poetry without structural rules.

Example Sentences

Crocker has changed his approach as he was now coming forward a bit more with his tight guard, and that was suiting Donovan, with the fight seemingly on a knife-edge heading into the final stanza.

From BBC • Sep. 13, 2025

Mercifully for Edmonton, they have Leon Draisaitl, their German goal-scoring virtuoso and overtime reaper, who yet again found magic in the sudden-death stanza.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2025

“The word stops, the heart dies / The wind counts the lost goodbyes,” goes one characteristically haunting stanza.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2024

Jordan Poole had 10 points and Kuzma 9 in the opening stanza.

From Washington Times • Nov. 1, 2023

There was nothing to do but gesture to the right and gesture to the left, exactly as she had practiced, only faster and faster, until finally the stanza was done.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

Related Words

• verse