sestet

[ se-stet, ses-tet ]

noun

1. Prosody. the last six lines of a sonnet in the Italian form, considered as a unit. Compare octave ( def 4a ).
2. sextet ( def 2 ).

sestet

/ sɛˈstɛt /

noun

1. prosody the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet
2. prosody any six-line stanza
3. another word for sextet

Word History and Origins

Origin of sestet¹

1795–1805; < Italian sestetto sextet, equivalent to sest ( o ) (< Latin sextus sixth ) + -etto -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of sestet¹

C19: from Italian sestetto, from sesto sixth, from Latin sextus, from sex six

Example Sentences

There was street parking on Gage in front of an orangely-lit space; inside, amid dates and family dinners, a sestet of elderly women drank tamarind margaritas and sang happy birthday.

From Salon

This sestet is sharpened by Robert's characteristic division of the six lines into two separate triplets, a structure favoured by Philip Sidney in Astrophil and Stella.

From The Guardian

The enfolded quatrain-form is itself a reference to the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet's sestet.

From The Guardian

If "blind", as both adjective and noun, rules the octet, then "peace", also repeated three times, is the dominant noun of the sestet.

From The Guardian

Apart from the attributive tag, the sonnet's sestet, all in the imperative case, is spoken by Liberty herself.

From The Guardian