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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Related Words

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; 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

With every stanza, she settled into a musical rhythm that was satiric and bitingly honest.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

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 Buffaloes led 59-47 entering the fourth quarter but struggled in the final stanza scoring just nine points.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 29, 2024

For some reason, the last stanza to “The Hanging Tree” starts running through my head.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• verse