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tercet

[ tur-sit, tur-set ]
/ ˈtɜr sɪt, tɜrˈsɛt /
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noun
Prosody. a group of three lines rhyming together or connected by rhyme with the adjacent group or groups of three lines.
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Origin of tercet

1590–1600; <French <Italian terzetto, diminutive of terzo third <Latin tertius.See -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tercet in a sentence

  • The common form of the sestina has six stanzas of six lines each, with a tercet at the end.

    English Verse|Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.
  • When there are two verses the stanza is called a couplet; a three line stanza is called a tercet; a four line stanza, a quatrain.

    Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 10|Charles Herbert Sylvester

British Dictionary definitions for tercet

tercet
/ (ˈtɜːsɪt, tɜːˈsɛt) /

noun
a group of three lines of verse that rhyme together or are connected by rhyme with adjacent groups of three lines

Word Origin for tercet

C16: from French, from Italian terzetto, diminutive of terzo third, from Latin tertius
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
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