verso

[ vur-soh ]

noun

, Printing.

, plural ver·sos.

1. a left-hand page of an open book or manuscript ( recto ).

verso

/ ˈvɜːsəʊ /

noun

1. 1. the back of a sheet of printed paper
   2. Also calledreverso the left-hand pages of a book, bearing the even numbers Compare recto
2. the side of a coin opposite to the obverse; reverse

Word History and Origins

Origin of verso¹

1830–40; short for Latin in versō foliō on the turned leaf

Word History and Origins

Origin of verso¹

C19: from the New Latin phrase versō foliō the leaf having been turned, from Latin vertere to turn + folium a leaf

Example Sentences

Exterior becomes interior — or verso becomes recto — in Leedham’s wittily jumbled tableaux.

From Washington Post

The lawsuit claimed that agreements signed by the jewelers contained illegible contract text in verso and therefore “cannot be binding.”

From Los Angeles Times

The text on the verso constructs a working definition of time that is clear, concise and lovely: “Time is the tock tick tock / of the / clock / and / numbers and words / on a calendar.”

From New York Times

Why not hang the painting on stanchions, so we can see the Nazi scar on the verso?

From New York Times

Part of the appeal of the Folger paperbacks is their accessible design: On the recto page, the original text, uncut; on the verso, helpful vocabulary words, often accompanied by tiny reproductions of Elizabethan etchings.

From New York Times

Related Words

• reversal