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prosaic, a. (n.)|prəʊˈzeɪɪk|
[ad. med.L. prōsaic-us (6th c.), f. prōsa prose: see -ic. So F. prosaïque (15th c. (adv. -ment) in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. Of or pertaining to prose; consisting of or written in prose; (of an author) writing in prose. Now rare or Obs.: expressed by prose 5 attrib.
1656Blount Glossogr., Prosaick, that is in Prose and not in Meeter, pertaining to Prose. 1719H. Eelbeck (title) A Prosaic Translation of..Persius Flaccus's Six Satyrs. 1780Harris Philol. Inq. ii. iii. (1781) 92 In modern Rhythm..be it Prosaic or Poetic, he [the reader] must expect to find it governed for the greater part by Accent. 1830W. Taylor Hist. Surv. Germ. Poetry III. 13 He [Herder] published many works, chiefly prosaic, which widely extended his literary reputation. 1878Browning La Saisiaz lxxix, Verse which, born, demands Prosaic ministration.
2. Having the character, style, or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; lacking poetic beauty, feeling, or imagination; plain, matter-of-fact. Hence
b. transf. Unpoetic, unromantic; commonplace, dull, tame. (Of persons and things.)
1746P. Francis tr. Horace, Sat. i. iv. 53 'Tis not enough to close the flowing Line, And in ten Syllables your Sense confine. Or write in meer prosaic Rhimes like me, That can deserve the Name of Poetry. 1795Mason Ch. Mus. iii. 166 The verses were easy and..prosaic enough to be intelligible to the meanest capacity. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 287 (Ship of Fools) The verse being prosaic, preserves its colloquial ease.
b.1813H. & J. Smith Horace in Lond. 10 When you are flat, prosaic, and insipid (which, under favor, you some⁓times are). 1859Holland Gold F. iii. 41 Do you get impatient with the prosaic life around you—the dulness, and the earthliness and the brutishness of men? 1877Black Green Past. vii, Marriage settlements are very prosaic things. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life 128 The Chinese are commonly held to be a prosaic people.
B. n.
†1. A prose author: = prosaist 1. Obs.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xix. (Arb.) 56 Which occasioned the story writer to chuse an higher stile fit for his subiect, the Prosaicke in prose, the Poet in meetre.
2. pl. Prosaic things or subjects.
1890Clark Russell Ocean Trag. I. viii. 163 She [a ship] hardened rapidly into the familiar prosaics of timber, sail⁓cloth and tackling. |