verse

The word “verse” means writing arranged with rhythm and often rhyme, as in poetry. In plain terms, poetic or rhythmic writing, a section of a song, or a numbered line in a sacred text.

“Verse” is pronounced VURS (/ˈvɝs/ in IPA).

Here is “verse” used in a sentence: “He wrote the wedding toast in verse rather than plain prose.”

“Verse” is a noun.

The word “verse” comes from Latin. From Old English fers and Old French vers, both ultimately from Latin versus, "a line of writing" — literally "a turn", since a line of writing "turns" back at its end like a plough furrow.

“Verse” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Verse” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: writing arranged with rhythm and often rhyme, as in poetry.

Verse is writing arranged with deliberate rhythm and often rhyme, as in poetry, while prose is ordinary writing organised in sentences and paragraphs without a set metrical pattern. In short, poems are typically written in verse, whereas essays, novels, and articles are written in prose.

A verse is a repeated section of a song's lyrics that usually changes its words each time to advance the story, while the chorus repeats the same words and melody to anchor the song. The verse builds the narrative, and the chorus delivers the memorable, recurring hook.

In careful usage, a stanza is a grouped block of lines in a poem, while verse more broadly refers to metrical writing itself, though verse is also used casually to mean a single stanza. When precision matters, use stanza for the distinct grouped section of lines.