tanka

[ tahng-kuh ]

noun,plural tan·kas, tan·ka.Prosody.
  1. a Japanese poem consisting of 31 syllables in 5 lines, with 5 syllables in the first and third lines and 7 in the others.

Origin of tanka

1
1915–20; <Japanese <Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese duǎn short + song; cf. renga

Words Nearby tanka

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British Dictionary definitions for tanka

tanka

/ (ˈtɑːŋkə) /


nounplural -kas or -ka
  1. a Japanese verse form consisting of five lines, the first and third having five syllables, the others seven

Origin of tanka

1
C19: from Japanese, from tan short + ka verse

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