tercet

[ tur-sit, tur-set ]

noun

1. Prosody. a group of three lines rhyming together or connected by rhyme with the adjacent group or groups of three lines.
2. Music. triplet ( def 5 ).

tercet

/ tɜːˈsɛt; ˈtɜːsɪt /

noun

1. a group of three lines of verse that rhyme together or are connected by rhyme with adjacent groups of three lines

Word History and Origins

Origin of tercet¹

1590–1600; < French < Italian terzetto, diminutive of terzo third < Latin tertius. See -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of tercet¹

C16: from French, from Italian terzetto, diminutive of terzo third, from Latin tertius

Example Sentences

Jean Hollander, the author of several books of poetry, took on the translation of the verse — an already herculean task made more difficult by the challenge of re-creating Dante’s terza rima tercets in English.

From Washington Post

A fixed form of nineteen lines: five tercets, a concluding quatrain, and a rhyme scheme tight enough to keep any feeling from spilling over the borders.

From The New Yorker

Listen to the first tercet of “The Smile”:

From Washington Post

And because this tercet is itself a mirror-image, reflecting the opening stanza, we might imagine the poem's beginning again, with this other face, smiling largely, this other skinny, agile little body with its Kalashnikov.

From The Guardian

Then, picking up the "moon" rhyme for the first line, and plainly echoing Fitzgerald, Thompson expands into a longer-lined, highly emotive tercet.

From The Guardian