quatrain

[ kwo-treyn ]

noun

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

quatrain

/ ˈkwɒtreɪn /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quatrain¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quatrain¹

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

Example Sentences

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

From The Daily Beast

The commonest stanza is a quatrain consisting of four heptasyllabic lines with the rhyme at the end of the couplet.

From Project Gutenberg

Don Tiburcio converted into a quatrain—two feet, one longer than the other, between two crutches!

From Project Gutenberg

A stanza of two lines is called a couplet; of three lines, a triplet; of four lines, a quatrain.

From Project Gutenberg

It is divided into two parts: the first consisting of an octave or double quatrain, and the other of a sestet.

From Project Gutenberg

The parodist who wrote the following newspaper quatrain was no enemy of the automobile in spite of his cynicism.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ballad
• composition
• epic
• lyric
• poetry
• rhyme
• sonnet
• verse
• writing