poem · noun — A literary piece written in verse. It carries an Arena rating of 1549, earned across 12 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, poem ranks #359 of 17,137 for Most Elegant Words, #1,575 of 17,147 for Most Malleable Words, #3,093 of 17,136 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,543 of 17,154 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
poem is pronounced /ˈpəʊ.ɪm/.
Why “poem” is a great word
A composition, typically in verse, characterized by concentrated and evocative language and often employing meter and rhyme. From Middle French *poème*, from Latin *poēma*, from Ancient Greek ποίημα (*poíēma*, "thing made, creation"), from ποιέω (*poiéō*, "to make, create"). Unlike "prose," which carries the plain cadence of ordinary speech, or "verse," which denotes the structural unit of a metrical line, a poem is the complete artifact fashioned from them. It is the single drop of honey distilled from acres of clover, the fossilized footprint of an emotion otherwise lost to time, and the precise moment when language ceases to be merely functional and becomes, inexplicably, necessary: a small, deliberate act of order against the great, formless noise.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle French poème, from Latin poēma, from Ancient Greek ποίημα (poíēma), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”). Widely displaced English leed.
noun
- A literary piece written in verse.
- A piece of writing in the tradition of poetry, an instance of poetry.
- A piece of poetic writing, that is with an intensity or depth of expression or inspiration greater than is usual in prose.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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