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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



41 words match “STANZA”

STANZA n. 2 definitions
her like or unlike, in measure. Horace confines himself strictly to one sort of verse, or stanza, in every ode. Dryden.
STANZAIC a.
Pertaining to, or consisting of, stanzas; as, a couplet in stanzaic form.
ACROSTIC n.
A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian. Double acrostic, a species of enigma, in which words are to be guessed whose initial and final letters form other words.
AIR n.
o as to form a symmetrical and balanced whole, which may be sung by a single voice to the stanzas of a hymn or song, or even to plain prose, or played upon an instrument; a melody; a tune; an aria.
ANTISTROPHE n.
ns, to dance round the altars whilst they sang the sacred hymns, which consisted of three stanzas or parts; the first of which, called strophe, was sung in turning from east to west; the other, named antistrophe, in returning from west to east; then they stood before the altar, and sang the epode, which was the last pa…
BALLAD n.
or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
BALLADE n.
ication, sometimes imitated in English, in which three or four rhymes recur through three stanzas of eight or ten lines each, the stanzas concluding with a refrain, and the whole poem with an envoy.
BURDEN n.
The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer. I would sing my song without a burden. Shak.
CHANT n.
old French poetry, a poem containing five strophes of eleven lines each, and a concluding stanza. -- each of these six parts ending with a common refrain. -- Gregorian chant. See under Gregorian.
CHORUS n.
Parts of a song or hymn recurring at intervals, as at the end of stanzas; also, a company of singers who join with the singer or choir in singer or choir in singing such parts.
CROON v.
To sing in a low tone, as if to one's self; to hum. Hearing such stanzas crooned in her praise. C. Bront
DELETE v.
lot out; to erase; to expunge; to dele; to omit. I have, therefore, . . . inserted eleven stanzas which do not appear in Sir Walter Scott's version, and have deleted eight. Aytoun.
DESIDERATE v.
oint out one word missing that ought to have been there -- please to insert a desiderated stanza. You can not. Prof. Wilson. Men were beginning . . . to desiderate for them an actual abode of fire. A. W. Ward.
EPIPHORA n.
The emphatic repetition of a word or phrase, at the end of several sentences or stanzas.
HEDGE v.
ons in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite. The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate attempt to hedge between the parties than . . . to gain favor from the Roundheads. Saintsbury.
INTERCALATE v.
To insert among others, as a verse in a stanza; specif. (Geol.), to introduce as a bed or stratum, between the layers of a regular series of rocks. Beds of fresh-water shells . . . are intercalated and interstratified with the shale. Mantell.
INTERLUDE n.
a drama; especially, in church music, a short passage played by the organist between the stanzas of a hymn, or in German chorals after each line.
MESYMNICUM n.
A repetition at the end of a stanza.
METER; METRE n. 2 definitions
Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm; measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter. The only strict antithesis to prose is meter. Wordsw…
OCTAVE n.
The first two stanzas of a sonnet, consisting of four verses each; a stanza of eight lines. With mournful melody it continued this octave. Sir P. Sidney. Double octave. (Mus.) See under Double. -- Octave flute (Mus.), a small flute, the tones of which range an octave higher than those of the German or ordinary flute;…
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