versification
Americannoun
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the act of versifying.
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verse form; metrical structure.
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a metrical version of something.
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the art or practice of composing verses.
noun
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the technique or art of versifying
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the form or metrical composition of a poem
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a metrical version of a prose text
Etymology
Origin of versification
1595–1605; < Latin versificātiōn- (stem of versificātiō ), equivalent to versificāt ( us ) (past participle of versificāre to versify; see -ate 1) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Versification is when you turn something into a poem: "The versification of this grocery list was a lot harder than I imagined, because nothing rhymes with 'orange.'" You're most likely to come across the noun versification in an academic setting, like a poetry class. You can use it to mean the adaptation of some other kind of writing into verse, or to talk about the form — meter, rhythm, or language — of a poem. It comes from the Latin word versificationem, and it's closely related to versify, whose root is versificare, "compare verse or turn into verse."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Stoner asks about Anglo-Saxon versification, Walker responds with talk of “sensibility.”
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 11, 2019
He's clearly paid a great deal of detailed attention to how the narrative and the interplay of character is to work – vital in Shakespeare films that can easily get bogged down in versification.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 15, 2011
Eliot himself, one of his play's harshest critics, has deplored its not fusing Greek story with modern one, its exalting "versification at the expense of plot and character."
From Time Magazine Archive
Whether he sees the work as a brilliant display of versification or as the story of man's fall from grace, the poem is a sacred text, the source of his intellectual or moral faith.
From Time Magazine Archive
And the very difficulty of the form is a strong argument in favor of its frequent use by novices in versification.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Joyce Kilmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
