verse
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
verse¹
- /vɜːs/ UK
- /ˈvɝs/ US
- /ˈvɜːs/ UK
- /vɜrs/ US
Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)s
Where it comes from
From Middle English vers, from a mixture of Old English fers and Old French vers; both from Latin versus (“a line in writing, and in poetry a verse; (originally) row, furrow”), from vertō (“to turn around”).
noun verses
- A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme. Restoration literature is well known for its carefully constructed verse.
- Poetic form in general. The restrictions of verse have steadily been relaxed over time.
- One of several similar units of a song, consisting of several lines, generally rhymed. Note the shift in tone between the first verse and the second.
- A small section of a holy book (Bible, Quran etc.)
- A portion of an anthem to be performed by a single voice to each part.
verb verses · versing · versed
- To compose verses. It is not rhyming and versing that maketh a poet.
- To tell in verse, or poetry. playing on pipes of corn and versing love
- to educate about, to teach about. He versed us in the finer points of category theory.
verse²
- /vɜːs/ UK
- /ˈvɝs/ US
- /ˈvɜːs/ UK
- /vɜrs/ US
Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)s
Where it comes from
Back-formation from versus, misconstrued as a third-person singular verb verses.
verb verses · versing · versed
- To oppose, to compete against. When teams play now they "verse" each other. "Who did you verse?" (Forget "whom". It's long dead.) "We're versing you next." Pity the Latin scholar who might feel the loss of "versus" more keenly than many.
