verse English · revision 7238

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 900|origins=la versus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɜːs/, /ˈvɜːs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈvɝs/, /vɜrs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English vers, partly from Old English [[m|ang|fers]], an early borrowing of Latin, partly [[bor|xno|vers|t=line of verse; rhyme, song]], Old French vers,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|versus|t=a turning of the plough, a furrow; a line, row, line of writing]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|verto|alt=vertere|t=to turn]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*wer-|t=to turn, bend]].^(Etymonline) The metaphor is of ploughing, turning from one line to the next as a ploughman does.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A line of poetry: about 900 in the OED.^(OED 1989) A line or section of a psalm is late Old English in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In liturgy, a versicle is from about 960.^(OED 1989) One of the sections of a psalm or canticle is from about 1200,^(OED 1989) and the numbered divisions of a Bible chapter are from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) Metrical composition generally is from the mid-14th century, and a stanza from the 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The non-repeating part of a popular song, between the choruses, is by 1918.^(Etymonline) The verb, to make verses, is late Old English, and to be ''well-versed'' first meant to be put into elegant verse (mid-15th century).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 900 – a line of poetry.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – a section of a psalm.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-14th century – poetry generally.^(Etymonline)

+ * 16th century – a Bible verse.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1918 – a verse of a song.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Writing arranged in lines with a regular [[rhythm]]; [[poetry]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of lines forming a unit in a poem or song; a [[stanza]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # One of the numbered short divisions of a chapter in the Bible.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A single line of poetry.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[underverse]]

+ * [[blank verse]]

+ * [[chapter and verse]]

+ * [[heroic verse]]

+ * [[Leonine verse]]

+ * [[society verse]]

+ * [[free verse]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[versification]]

+ * [[versify]]

+ * [[versed]]

+ * [[version]]

+ * [[versus]]

+ * [[convert]]

+ * [[prose]]

+ * [[vertical]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate verb verse, to make familiar with (as in ''versed''), is a back-formation from versed, from Latin versatus (1599).^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) A slang verb ''verse'', to play against, is a back-formation from [[versus]] (1956).^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}