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quatrain

[ kwo-treyn ]

/ ˈkwɒ treɪn /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR quatrain ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a stanza or poem of four lines, usually with alternate rhymes.

Origin of quatrain

1575–85; < French, equivalent to quatre four (< Latin quattuor) + -ain < Latin -ānus -an

Words nearby quatrain

quaternate, quaternion, quaternity, quathlamba, quatorze, quatrain, quatre, quatre bras, quatrefoil, quattrocento, quattuordecillion

Example sentences from the Web for quatrain

Who was the most erotic poet of the late Renaissance and early Baroque, when the quatrain reached its courtly zenith?

Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun |Katie Baker |November 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Each line ends with a trisyllable or a tetrasyllable, with dissyllabic rhyme running through the quatrain.

The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran |Anonymous
One thing is certain, that the quatrain because of its very brevity demands more care and polishing than a longer piece of verse.

Rhymes and Meters |Horatio Winslow
I like the quatrain, of course; who, knowing the "Incorrigibles," doesn't?

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, May 28, 1919. |Various

There are some scores of ruba'iyat that may be said to have contributed their imageries to the quatrain.

The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam |Omar Khayyam
I have omitted those which occur in the former poem and added one quatrain from the latter, which it would be a pity to leave out.

The Poem-Book of the Gael |Various

British Dictionary definitions for quatrain

quatrain

/ (ˈkwɒtreɪn) /

noun

a stanza or poem of four lines, esp one having alternate rhymes

Word Origin for quatrain

C16: from French, from quatre four, from Latin quattuor