poet

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpoʊ.ət/ UK /ˈpəʊ.ɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #4624

Meanings

1

noun
A person who writes poems.

Shakespeare is one of the most famous poets in English.
2

noun
A person with a creative or romantic way of seeing the world.

He is a poet at heart, always finding beauty in small things.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms poets

Derived forms antipoetarch-poetcyberpoetecopoetinstapoetmetapoetmythopoetnonpoetparcel-poetpoetasterpoetcraftpoetdom

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

folk poet
a poet whose work belongs to the traditional culture of a community

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Poets are born, not made

Simplified etymology

Poet comes through Middle English from Greek poētēs, meaning “maker” as well as “poet.” A poet was therefore understood literally as someone who makes or creates.

Etymology

From Middle English poete, from Old French poete, from Latin poēta (“poet, author”), from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “creator, maker, author, poet”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, compose”). Displaced native Old English sċop. Doublet of piyyut.

poete Middle English poēta Latin ποιητής Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Literature & Storytelling

External links

# poet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpoʊ.ət/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpəʊ.ɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 4624

## Meanings
1. A person who writes poems.
2. A person with a creative or romantic way of seeing the world.

## Examples
- Shakespeare is one of the most famous poets in English.
- He is a poet at heart, always finding beauty in small things.

## Derived Forms
- antipoet
- arch-poet
- cyberpoet
- ecopoet
- instapoet
- metapoet
- mythopoet
- nonpoet
- parcel-poet
- poetaster
- poetcraft
- poetdom

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: poete
- Root: poēta
- Root: ποιητής

## Etymology
From Middle English poete, from Old French poete, from Latin poēta (“poet, author”), from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “creator, maker, author, poet”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, compose”). Displaced native Old English sċop. Doublet of piyyut.

## AI Etymology
Poet comes from Middle English poete, from Old French poete, from Latin poēta (“poet, author”), from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “creator, maker, author, poet”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, compose”). Displaced native Old English sċop. Doublet of piyyut. In present-day English it covers a person who writes poems and a person with a creative or romantic way of seeing the world. The wider family includes derived forms such as antipoet, arch-poet, cyberpoet, ecopoet, instapoet.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Literature & Storytelling

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