poem
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈpəʊ.ɪm/, /ˈpəʊ.əm/ (UK); /ˈpoʊ.əm/, /ˈpəʊ.ɪm/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Middle French poème or directly borrowed from Latin poēma (“composition in verse”),[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek πόημα (póēma, “a thing made; fiction, poetic work”), an early variant of poíēma,[2][3][4] from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, compose”) (see poet).[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
A composition in verse: 1548 in Barnhart and the OED, the 1540s in Etymonline;[2][5][3] MWU and SOED date it to the 15th century.[6][7] It replaced earlier poesy in this sense.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
A composition in prose with the imaginative qualities of poetry is from 1581.[5][3] Figuratively, anything of a poetic beauty, such as a building or a dish, is from 1642.[5] Hoad relates the Greek root to Sanskrit cinóti, to assemble or heap up.[4] The spelling pome, representing a careless pronunciation, is from 1856.[3]
Timeline
- 1548 – a composition in verse.[2][5]
- 1581 – a poetic composition in prose.[5]
- 1642 – something of poetic beauty.[5]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A piece of writing in verse, often with rhyme and metre, expressing feelings or ideas with heightened language.
- Something felt to have the beauty of a poem.
Word family
- symphonic poem
- tone poem
- prose poem
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press