verse

B2 Topic:Literature & Storytelling

US /ˈvɝs/ UK /ˈvɜːs/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like worse /v/ vs /w/

Freq #8132

Meanings

1

noun
A group of lines that form one unit of a song or poem.

Everyone joined in once the second verse began.
2

noun
Writing arranged in lines with rhythm and often rhyme; poetry.

She wrote the story in verse rather than prose.
3

verb
To write poetry.

He spent his evenings versing about the sea.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a group of lines that form... stanza

2 noun · writing arranged in lines... poetry

Word family

Forms verses

Derived forms verse-chorusversecraft

Related forms versificationversify

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

alliterative verse
poetry that uses repeated initial sounds as a central organizing feature

Adjective + noun
doggerel verse
rough or irregular poetry, often written for comic effect

Noun + noun
nonsense verse
poetry that deliberately uses absurd ideas or meaningless language

Noun + noun
gnomic verse
poetry that expresses general truths in short, compact sayings

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Verse comes through Old English from Latin versus, which meant both “a turn of the plough; a furrow” and “a line of writing.” The connection is the image of a plough turning and cutting successive straight furrows, compared with lines of text. Versus was based on Latin vertere, “to turn.”

Etymology

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”).

*wert- Proto-Indo-European vers Middle English fers Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Literature & Storytelling Music Theory General Vocabulary

External links

# verse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈvɝs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈvɜːs/
**Frequency rank:** 8132

## Meanings
1. A group of lines that form one unit of a song or poem.
2. Writing arranged in lines with rhythm and often rhyme; poetry.
3. To write poetry.

## Examples
- Everyone joined in once the second verse began.
- She wrote the story in verse rather than prose.
- He spent his evenings versing about the sea.

## Derived Forms
- verse-chorus
- versecraft

## Related Forms
- versification
- versify

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *wert-
- Root: vers
- Root: fers

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Verse is 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”). The historical line also includes Proto-Indo-European *wert-, Middle English vers, Old English fers, Old French vers. In present-day use, it can mean a group of lines that form one unit of a song or poem, or writing arranged in lines with rhythm and often rhyme; poetry. Derived formations include verse-chorus, versecraft.

## Topics
- Literature & Storytelling
- Music Theory
- General Vocabulary

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