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stanza

0 antonyms and opposites of stanza, grouped by meaning.

Noun — A group of lines in a poem, set apart from the next group by a blank line and often sharing a fixed pattern of length, rhythm and rhyme.

How to use stanza

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

opening stanza four-line stanza closing stanza

Literary and standard in the classroom.

Etymology

From Italian 'stanza', meaning 'room' or 'stopping place', from the sense of each group of lines being a room within the poem.

Full origin of stanza →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a stanza and a verse?

In poetry the correct technical term for a block of lines is stanza; 'verse' properly means a single line or poetry in general. In songs, though, 'verse' is the normal word for the same unit, and nobody will misunderstand you.

What is the difference between a stanza and a paragraph?

Both group related material and are separated by white space, but a paragraph is organised by idea in prose, while a stanza is organised by form: a set number of lines with a shared metre or rhyme scheme.

What are stanzas of different lengths called?

Two lines make a couplet, three a tercet, four a quatrain, six a sestet and eight an octave. A poem written without stanza breaks is called continuous or stichic verse.

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Synonyms and antonyms from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.