noun

sonnet

SO-niht

noun

A fourteen-line poem, traditionally in iambic rhythm and following one of a few set rhyme patterns.

"Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets."

"She entered a sonnet she'd written about the sea into the competition."

verb

To write a sonnet, or to write a sonnet praising someone or something.

"The poet sonneted his lost love for years."

How to Use Sonnet

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA short, structured 14-line poem.

Common pairings

write a sonnet a Shakespearean sonnet sonnet sequence

sonneted past tense, sonnetted past tense, sonnets plural, sonnets singular

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Shakespeare wrote 154 _____.

From Italian sonetto, "little song," via Old Occitan sonet — ultimately from Latin sonus, "sound."

bonnet