versen.
/vəːs/, U.S. /vərs/ 1.
a.
(a) A succession of words arranged according to natural or recognized rules of prosody and forming a complete metrical line; one of the lines of a poem or piece of versification.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line
versec900
staffc1450
line?1566
numeral1605
stich1723
stike-
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) iv. xxiv. 344 Þa ongon he sona singan in herenesse Godes Scyppendes þa fers [v.r. uers] & þa word þe he næfre gehyrde.
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) xxxvii. 218 Uersificor, ic fersige oððe ic wyrce fers.
c1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) 8 313 Þæt pentimemeris byð þe todælð þæt vers on þam oðrum fet.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 59 & icc ne mihhte nohht min ferrs. Aȝȝ wiþþ goddspelless wordess. Wel fillenn all.
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse i. 463 He made of ryme ten verses [v.r. vers] or twelue Of a complaynt.
c1380 J. Wyclif Last Age Church (1840) 33 Sibille acordiþ herto þat suche tribulacioun is nyȝe in þes verse.
a1400 Cato 633 in Minor P. Vernon MS. 609 Þe [= thee] merueyles of þise nakede vers [that] Beoþ maked bi two and two.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) ii. 5 As it es contende in þis werse, whilk es here writen.
?1479 W. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 651 Thes too verse a-fore seyde be of myn own makyng.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton 9 I haue made this lytel book in double verses the whiche conteynen two shorte and utyle sentences for the symple folke.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cc And for this Scisme thus graciously was endyd a Uercifier made this verse folowynge. Lux fulsit mundo cessit Felix Nicholao.
1567 in Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) [p. cxxxiv] Sing thir four veirs efter euerie Psalme as followis.
1597 F. Bacon Ess. f. 4 Some mens behauiour is like a verse wherein euery sillable is measured.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xv. 316 When..the Spanish Embassadour..had summed up the effect thereof in a Tetrastich, she instantly in one verse rejoined her answer.
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. i. 3 But those that write in Rhime, still make The one Verse, for the others sake.
1709 Hearne in Chron. R. Gloucester (1724) App. 601 There are eight Verses in the Tale it self, which are not in the common Editions.
a1771 T. Gray Observ. Eng. Metre in Wks. (1814) II. 29 The verse of fourteen [syllables]..and verse of six.
1822 S. Tillbrook in Southey's Poet. Wks. (1853) p. xx/2 Eight verses of hexametrical dimensions.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 370/1 An hexameter verse which has a spondee in the fifth place, is called a spondaic verse.
1895 A. W. Ward in Poet. Wks. Pope p. li The ordinary rule as to the position of the cæsura in the verse.
(b) spec. with historical reference to Old English poetry.
ΚΠ
1715 E. Elstob Rudim. Gram. Eng.-Saxon Tongue 68 The Saxon Verses consist of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or more syllables.
1883 H. M. Kennedy tr. B. ten Brink Early Eng. Lit. 22 The sentence rarely closes with the ending of the verse.
1938 A. Campbell Battle of Brunanburh 16 Sievers showed once and for all the combinations of accentual elements, which might be used to build a verse.
1958 A. J. Bliss Metre of Beowulf 1 The term ‘verse’ is here used instead of the more cumbrous ‘half-line’ or ‘hemistich’.
b. In the plural occasionally merging into sense 5.
ΚΠ
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 14 He hadde many verses techyng folkis to eschewe their propre willes.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 199 He has indorsit myn indyting With versis off his awin hand vryting.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. June 42 Tho couth I sing of loue, and tune my pype Vnto my plaintiue pleas in verses made.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. iii. 30 Cinna, I am Cinna the Poet.. 4.[th Plebian] Teare him for his bad verses.
a1643 W. Cartwright Siedge iv. v, in Comedies (1651) sig. K7v They do swarm hither with their Veases [read Verses], like Town-Poets on some Lord's Son's Wedding-day.
1714 (title) Rymer's Translations from Greek, Latin and Italian Poets; with other Verses and Songs.
1781 S. Johnson Lyttelton in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets X. 2 The Verses cant of shepherds and flocks, and crooks dressed with flowers.
1805 H. K. White Let. 18 Oct. in Remains (1807) I. 179 I have this week written some very elaborate verses, for a college prize.
c. With distinctive premodifiers. (Cf. 6c.)
ΚΠ
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke i. viii. 16 A songe of Exameter Verses.
1576 A. Fleming tr. G. Macropedius in Panoplie Epist. 377 To write in heroicall Verses.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1246 A chronicler penning the historie of these affaires in elegiack verses.
1605 W. Camden Remaines ii. 26 Our Poets hath their knacks..as Ecchos, Achrostiches, Serpentine verses,..&c.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Serpentine verses, are those which do, as it were, run into themselves, as we see Serpents pictured with tail in mouth.
a1657 W. Burton Comm. Antoninus his Itinerary (1658) 61 These rimedoggrill verses, not Leonine, as I think they are usually called.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Hexameter Epic Poems, as the Iliad, Odyssee, Æneid, &c. consist of Hexameter Verses alone.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Serpentine Serpentine Verses, are such as begin and end with the same Word.
1774 T. Warton Hist Eng. Poetry (1870) 30 The verses which we call Alexandrine.
1782 J. Warton Ess. on Pope (new ed.) II. x. 211 Like Ovid's Fasti, in hexameter and pentameter verses.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 265 To repeat a certain number of fescennine verses.
1818 J. C. Hobhouse Hist. Illustr. (ed. 2) 442 [Italian] heroic verses have not the advantage of the hexametral length.
2. Liturgical. = versicle n. 1. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > parts of service > versicle > [noun]
versec960
verset?c1225
versiclea1380
stichos1863
c960 Rule St. Benet (1885) ix. 33 Cweþe ærest þis fers: Deus in adiutorium meum intende.
c960 Rule St. Benet (1885) xi. 35 Singe man ærest six sealmas and þonne on ende fers.
c1030 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 41 Æfter þisum rædingum fylian..syx sealmas mid antiphonam, swa swa þa æreran & mid ferse.
a1400 Prymer (St. John's Cambr.) (1891) 88 Delyuere me lord. With these thre ueers. V'. Now cryst. V'. Brennynge soules wepiþ [etc.]. V'. Schappere of alle þynges.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 114 (heading) What is vnderstonded by the thre lessons wyth the Responces & verses folowynge.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Pref. sig. ❧.i Respondes, Verses, vaine repeticions.
1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 363v/2 Many orisons and verses Without note, full softely Said were, and that full heartily.
1627 First Articles conc. Clergy in J. Cosin Corr. (1869) I. iv. 111 Doth he begin with the Lord's Prayer; orderly proceeding with the Verses and Responds.
1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (new ed.) 29 Then follow the Verses, ‘O Lord open Thou our Lips, And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise’.
1762 Evening-Office of Church (ed. 2) Direct. 3 Then is sung the Hymn with its Verse and Responsory.
1763 R. Burn Eccl. Law I. 38 The invitatories, responsories, verses, collects, and whatever is said or sung in the quire.
1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship Eng. 91 The Gradual, Alleluya, and Responsory and Verses.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > short clause or sentence
versec1000
versicle1483
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) l. 291 Se þridda hatte distinctio oððe periodos, se belycð þaet fers [v.rr. færs, fyrs].
c1000 Ælfric Genesis (Grein) 23 Eft stynt on þære bec on þam forman ferse: Et spiritus dei ferebatur super aquas.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Þet rihte ileue setten þe twelue apostles on write,..& ec of heom wrat ther of his uers, & sancte peter wrat þet ereste.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 77 We habbeð bigunnen ou to seggen on englisch hwat biqueþ þe crede, & habbeð ou iseið twa uers.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xi. 3495 Sancte Ierome wrat til hym..Gloria Patri in til twa werse.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. iv. 13 He declared vnto you his couenaunt, which he commaunded you to do, namely, the ten verses.
1560 Proude Wyves Pater Noster 116 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. IV. 157 I pray you, gossyp dere, vnderstand well this verse.
4. in combination.1855 I. Taylor Restor. Belief (1856) 186 A verse-by-verse commentary.
a. One of the sections of a psalm or canticle corresponding to the compound unit (usually a couplet) of Hebrew poetry. (Now merged in 4b.)
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > [noun] > verse
versec1175
trope1609
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11943 Forr þær iss sett an oþerr ferrs. Þatt spekeþþ off þe deofell.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 30 Þe forme [psalm is] Iubilate... Þe fifðe. laudate dominum Insanctis eius ineuchan beoð fif uers.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 34 [He] seide þeos two vers of þe sauter.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 225 Þe foweles sunge ek here matyns,..& of þe sauter seide þe uers.
c1325 Spec. Gy Warw. 460 Sein Daui seiþ, if þu wolt loke In a vers of þe sauter boke [etc.].
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xii. 290 Þe glose graunteth vpon þat vers [Ps. xxiii. 4] a gret mede to treuthe.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xi. 3508 Of þe psalmys distyntly Þe ta syde sulde þe fyrst werse say, Þe toþir þe next werse ay Sulde begyn.
c1450 Rewle Sustris Menouresses (1915) 103 Þan þe quere on þat one syde schal take his verse, & þe Quere on þat oþer syde schal take anoþer verse [of Ps. li].
1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. tt.vv It is also profytable for good & ryghtwyse people oft to reherce this verse [Ps. cxxx. 1] wherby they may auoyde ye grete perylles of this wretched worlde.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. IIIiiiiv If..for any necessite, a psalme scape any person, or a lesson, or else yt they omyt one verse or twayne.
b. One of the sections into which a chapter of the Bible is divided. Frequently abbreviated as v. chapter and verse: see chapter n. Phrases 2.The practice of dividing the chapters of the Bible into verses, introduced by Stephanus in 1551, was adopted by Whittingham in his New Testament (1557) and followed in the Geneva Bible (1560).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > text > [noun] > passage
writeOE
steadc1175
text1377
scripturec1384
parcela1398
verse1560
versicle1737
verset1861
1560 Bible (Geneva) To Rdr. The argumentes bothe for the booke and for the chapters with the nombre of the verse are added.
1643 J. Caryl Expos. Job (1676) I. 178 Verse 2 [of ch. iii]... This verse is only a transition into the matter of the next.
1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. ii. 161 One single Red-Coat Sentinel..could disperse Whole Troops, with Chapter rais'd, and Verse.
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. John viii. 3 The last Verse of the foregoing Chapter and the eleven first Verses of this Chapter.
1729 W. Law Serious Call i. 8 That Religion..is to be found in almost every verse of Scripture.
1818 T. H. Horne Introd. Crit. Study Holy Script. (1834) II. 75 The verses into which the New Testament is now divided.
1847 Kitto's Cycl. Bibl. Lit. II. 909 (note) The twentieth verse of the tenth chapter of Matthew.
1888 E. Abbot Crit. Ess. xx. 465 The first edition of the New Testament divided into our present verses was printed by Robert Stephens at Geneva in 1551.
5.
a. A small number of metrical lines so connected by form or meaning as to constitute either a whole in themselves or a unit in longer composition; a stanza.In quots. c1340 and a1387 applied to elegiac and hexameter couplets. In later use the plural is sometimes not clearly distinct from 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > stanza
versec1308
baston?c1335
staff1533
stanza1589
couplement1594
stance1596
stave1659
strophe1895
st.-
c1308 Sat. Kildare i, in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 153 Þis uers is ful well iwroȝt, hit is of wel furre y-broȝt.
c1308 Sat. Kildare iii, in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 153 Þis uers is imakid wel of consonans and wowel.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 246 Of þis Saynt Bernard witnes bers And er þa four wryten in þis vers.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 83 So hit semeþ þat þis vers wolde mene þat þese feyned goddes regneþ..in Chestre.
1502 G. Douglas Palace of Honour iii. xcii In laude of honour I wrait thir versis thre.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie V 31 A verse: a charme: a prophesie, carmen.
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales iii. xiii. 84 The Smyrnæans alleaged an oracle of Apollo,..the Tenians a verse [L. carmen] of the same Apollo, commaunding them to offer an image and Temple to Neptune.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iv. 7 Now good Cesario, but that peece of song, That old and Anticke song we heard last night;..Come, but one verse . View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 74. ¶5 The Country of the Scotch Warriours, described in these two last Verses [of ‘Chevy Chase’].
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music (at cited word) In secular music, as a song or ballad, each stanza of the words is a verse.
1793 R. Burns Let. 7 Apr. (2003) II. 204 I remember the two ending lines of a verse in some of the old Songs of ‘Logan water’..which I think pretty.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxvi. 97 A young lady proceeded to entertain the company with a ballad in four verses.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiii. 167 It was at once proposed to sing a verse from Schiller's play.
b. Music. (See quot. 1786.)
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > kinds of hymn > anthem > [noun] > with solos > solo part
verse1786
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > religious or devotional > [noun] > anthem > part of
verse1786
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music Verse, the appellation given to those portions of an anthem meant to be performed by a single voice to each part.
c. That part of a modern popular song which leads into the chorus, or separates one chorus from another. Cf. chorus n. 6c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > a song > [noun] > verse
verse1927
1927 Melody Maker Aug. 782/2 The verse is then taken ‘hot’ by the trumpet, who gives a fine example of what modern ‘hot’ playing..should be.
1929 Melody Maker Feb. 163/3 The first chorus, verse and second chorus showed the usual Whiteman perfection of orchestration.
1935 Hot News Aug. 15/1 The themes utilised in jazz consist generally of a ‘chorus’ and a ‘verse’.
1966 Melody Maker 7 May 13/1 Wonder charges through the verse and builds up into the repetitious chorus.
6. personif.1580 E. Spenser Let. to G. Harvey in Wks. (1912) 636 Unhappy Verse,..Make thy selfe fluttring wings of thy fast flying Thought.1648 J. Milton To H. Lawes in H. Lawes Choice Psalmes sig. av Thou honour'st Verse, and Verse must lend her wing To honour thee.
a. Without article: Metrical composition, form, or structure; language or literary work written or spoken in metre; poetry, esp. with reference to metrical form. Opposed to prose.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > [noun]
metrea1375
poesyc1390
Parnassusc1395
poetryc1395
versea1400
remailea1425
poesis1565
poetry1580
muse1651
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22227 We wat bath thoru stori and wers, þat þe kingrikes o grece and pers War hefd kingrikes in form tide.
14.. Chaucer's Sompn. T. (Harl.) 297 Schortly may no man, by rym and vers, Tellen her thoughtes, thay ben so dyvers.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xi. 3492 This Damasyus..Couth mak rycht weill in metyre vers.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. G3 That Verse farre exceedeth Prose in the knitting vp of the memory, the reason is manifest.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvi. 141 In antient time, before letters were in common use, the Lawes were many times put into verse.
1696 M. Prior Secretary 16 Athens.., Where people knew love, and were partial to verse.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Stanza For though we speak Verse on the Stage, 'tis still presumed we are speaking Prose.
1779 S. Johnson Dryden in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets III. 307 To write verse is to dispose syllables and sounds harmonically by some known and settled rule.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. iii. 138 He..searched again For theme deserving of immortal verse.
1883 R. Noel in Contemp. Rev. Nov. 709 (note) We find..much nakedly argumentative ratiocinative verse, but that is not, strictly speaking, poetry at all.
b. Frequently in verse, in metrical form. Also figurative (quot. 1390).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > [adjective] > written in verse or versified
in versec1315
poetical?a1450
poetic1656
versicular1812
versified1841
versical1854
versed1890
c1315 Shoreham vii. 191 O god hyt hys, and stent in uers Ine þulke song [= Athanasian Creed].
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 128 He wenþ libbe yet uourti yer, ase zayþ elyuans ine uers of þe dyaþe.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 3 For Dronkeschipe is so divers, It may no whyle stonde in vers.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. x. 859 His epitaphi þan in werse Wryttyn þus men may rahers.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton 3 Two partyes—the fyrst is in prose and the second in verse.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 246 I will no lesingis put in vers.
1557 R. Tottel in Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes Printer to Rdr. sig. A.iv That to haue wel written in verse..deserueth great praise [etc.].
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. C.ii v Thinking nothing to be learnedly written in verse, which fell not out in ryme.
1643 J. Caryl Expos. Job (1676) I. 178 Job breaths out his passion in verse, and in verse receives his answer.
1689 M. Prior Epist. to F. Shephard 97 In Verse or Prose, We write or chat.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. vii. 136 The Introduction to knowledge, partly in verse and partly in prose.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) II. 124 In Crete and at Sparta..the maxims of the constitution were delivered in verse.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands III. 272 The Romans choose this form..for conveying their feelings in verse.
c. With distinctive premodifiers. (Cf. 1c)Adonic, Alexandrine, blank, elegiac, heroic(al, hexameter, leonine, Saturnian verse, etc.: see those words.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum (at cited word) Verse heroicall, or of sixe feete, versus heroicus.
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Miiij For flyting, or Inuectiues, vse..Rouncefallis or Tumbling verse.
1685 J. Dryden (title) The twenty-ninth Ode of the third Book of Horace; paraphrased in Pindarick Verse.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 39. ¶5 Aristotle observes, that the Iambick Verse in the Greek Tongue was the most proper for Tragedy.
1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity VI. xiv. iv. 488 An interminable length of harsh hexameter, or of elegiac verse.
7. † b. A particular style of metre or versification.
a. The metrical or poetical compositions of a particular author, etc.; a certain amount of metrical work or poetry considered as a whole.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > [noun] > a body of poetry
verse1586
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. C.iii Lydgate.., surely for good proportion of his verse..comparable with Chawcer.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. i. 101 Thus your Verse Flow'd with her Beautie once. View more context for this quotation
1716 A. Pope Epist. Jervas in J. Dryden tr. C. A. du Fresnoy Art of Painting (ed. 2) sig. A6 This Verse be thine, my Friend, nor thou refuse This, from no venal or ungrateful Muse.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 39 Till to her lips in measured frame The minstrel verse spontaneous came.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 401 The verse of Waller still breathed the sentiments which had animated a more chivalrous generation.
1906 Lit. World 15 Nov. 487/2 Some of the poems are spoiled by..hate of England... Had it been omitted the verse would have been improved.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > [noun] > variety of
verse1586
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. C.ii A singuler gyft in a sweete Heroicall verse.
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. C.iiii Master D. Phaer..had the best peece of Poetry whereon to sette a most gallant verse.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
verse-beat n.
ΚΠ
1943 E. Sitwell Poet's Notebk. xxviii. 134 The verse-beat is not very strong in this passage.
verse-book n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > [noun] > book of poems
anthology1624
poetry-book1772
poem-book1807
verse-book1849
nonsense book1874
poetry reader1895
slim volume1920
slim vol1953
1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton Caxtons I. i. v. 35 Rude songs, modelled from such verse-books as fell into my hands.
verse-craft n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > [noun] > poetic faculty or skill
poesy1589
verse-craft1894
1894 Daily News 20 Oct. 6/1 Her own skill in versecraft gives her unusual felicity of insight.
verse-cup n.
ΚΠ
1885 S. Cox Expos. xxii. 290 We have kept the best wine in this little Verse-cup until now.
verse-end n.
ΚΠ
1930 T. Sasaki On Lang. R. Bridges' Poetry i. v. 24 The fully strong stress at the verse-end.
verse-form n.
ΚΠ
1887 G. M. Hopkins Further Lett. (1956) 381 The style of prose is a positive thing and not the absence of verse-forms.
1906 G. P. Krapp Andreas p. xlvi The distinctively epic verse-form.
1966 Eng. Stud. 47 97 In a difficult and restrictive verse-form, one might expect the poet to resort to the use of convenient whole-line units more..often.
verse-line n.
ΚΠ
1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 66 He had written the thing [sc. a love-poem] straight ahead, without verse-lines or capitals.
verse-pair n.
ΚΠ
1953 Speculum 28 449 The recurrence of verses and verse-pairs in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
verse-rhythm n.
ΚΠ
1930 T. Sasaki On Lang. R. Bridges' Poetry i. v. 21 Lines in verse..form units of verse-rhythm intermediate between a ‘foot’ and a ‘stanza’.
1942 J. C. Pope Rhythm of Beowulf 22 In no case is it necessary to pass beyond the limits of accentual adjustment that verse-rhythm everywhere allows.
verse-shot n.
ΚΠ
1796 T. J. Mathias Pursuits of Lit.: Pt. II 12 Before they were half finished,..as many of the others as were within hearing or verse-shot..were all found fast asleep!!!
verse-unit n.
ΚΠ
1948 Mod. Philol. 46 77 When the character of the dipody, or verse unit, is examined, the first impression is one of extreme variation.
1966 Eng. Stud. 47 96 The verse-unit, the half-line, was quite short.
verse-wit n.
ΚΠ
1671 J. Dryden Evening's Love iii. 31 The Prose-wits playing, and the Verse-wits rooking.
b. † verse-fellow n. Obsolete a fellow or companion verse-maker.
verse anthem n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > kinds of hymn > anthem > [noun] > with solos
verse anthem1786
verse-service1851
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > religious or devotional > [noun] > anthem
anthemeOE
verse anthem1786
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music Verse,..the epithet applied to an anthem beginning with verse.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 446/1 A verse anthem is one which begins with soli portions as opposed to a full anthem, which commences with a chorus.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > [noun] > fellow-poet
verse-fellow1592
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes 235 To beare his old verse-fellow noble M. Valanger company.
verse-service n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > kinds of hymn > anthem > [noun] > with solos
verse anthem1786
verse-service1851
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > religious or devotional > [noun] > setting of church offices
service1622
verse-service1851
1851 J. S. Adams 5000 Mus. Terms 105 Verse service, a service in which verses are introduced.
1889 Grove's Dict. Music (1902) IV. 257 A verse-service or verse-anthem sometimes includes portions set for a voice solo.
C2. In the sense ‘composed or written in, consisting of, verse’, as verse drama, verse epistle, verse epitaph, verse-exercise, verse letter, verse miscellany, verse narrative, verse-part, verse play, verse-tale, verse-text, verse translation, etc.
ΚΠ
1685 J. Dryden Sylvæ Pref. sig. A2 The hot [prose], (which succeeded them) in this Volume of Verse Miscellanies.
1687 J. Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 4 Thus much for the Verse-part.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 23 In verse or prose, or in verse-text aided by prose-comment.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 19/1 Verse narrative, even when it deals with true events,..is either more or less than history.
1896 R. Palmer Fam. & Pers. Mem. I. i. viii. 122 He..gained both the University prizes for verse-exercises.
1925 R. Graves Welchman's Hose 31 Then the first draft of a verse-epitaph.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Nov. 850/2 It might be inferred certainly from the verse-epistles [of Burns] alone: not quite so certainly from the prose letters alone.
1952 T. S. Eliot & G. Hoellering Film of Murder in Cathedral 7 Murder in the Cathedral is, I believe, the first contemporary verse play to be adapted to the screen.
1962 Times 14 Aug. 11/1 Jean Cocteau's verse-drama Renaud et Armide.
1963 M. H. Abrams in N. Frye Romanticism Reconsidered 37 In a verse-letter of 1800 Blane identified the crucial influences in his spiritual history as a series beginning with Milton.
C3.
a. Objective or objective genitive.
(a)
verse-gracer n.
ΚΠ
1881 W. Wilkins Songs of Study 127 Verse-gracer! deign to grace mine With lucky chosen words.
verse-merchant n.
ΚΠ
1845 R. Browning Let. in Lett. R. Browning & E. B. Barrett (1899) I. 18 The Rialto where verse-merchants most do congregate.
verse-reciter n.
ΚΠ
1822 P. B. Shelley To Jane: Invitation 36 You, tiresome verse-reciter, Care.
verse-smith n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > [noun] > minor poet or poetaster
rhymera1500
versifier1531
rhythmer1577
rhymester1593
poetizer1599
jingler1600
penny poet1600
poetaster1601
verser?1611
versemonger1634
poetitoa1637
foot poet1641
verseman1652
sonneteer1667
tinkler1689
verse-wright1729
rhymist1763
bardling1813
coupleteer1818
verse-smith1820
poetling1830
versicler1860
bardlet1867
poeticule1872
poetast1892
1820 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Knights in tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 205 Ye verse-smiths and bard-mechanicians!
1887 G. Saintsbury Hist. Elizabethan Lit. i. 8 The supposed editor..is but a journeyman verse-smith.
verse-spinner n.
ΚΠ
1810 M. R. Mitford in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) I. 99 That feeble verse-spinner Bloomfield.
verse-wright n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > [noun] > minor poet or poetaster
rhymera1500
versifier1531
rhythmer1577
rhymester1593
poetizer1599
jingler1600
penny poet1600
poetaster1601
verser?1611
versemonger1634
poetitoa1637
foot poet1641
verseman1652
sonneteer1667
tinkler1689
verse-wright1729
rhymist1763
bardling1813
coupleteer1818
verse-smith1820
poetling1830
versicler1860
bardlet1867
poeticule1872
poetast1892
1729 R. Savage Wanderer i. 335 These scorn (said I) the verse~wright of their age.
1840 J. Pierpont Airs Palestine p. v The pieces that make up this volume will be seen..to be..the wares of a verse-wright, made ‘to order’.
verse-writer n.
ΚΠ
1726 J. Swift (title) Advice to the Grub-street Verse-Writers.
1885 W. Pater Marius the Epicurean I. vii. 121 A familiar playfulness of the Latin verse-writer in dealing with mythology.
(b)
verse-making adj.
ΚΠ
1811 A. Scott Poems (new ed.) p. x My attachment to verse-making.
1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets v. 147 A father taught the trade of flute-playing and chorus-leading and verse-making to his son.
verse-painting adj.
ΚΠ
1942 E. Blunden Romantic Poetry & Fine Arts 19 A single touch of his originality in the ‘Ancient Mariner’ holds the secret of his verse-painting.
verse-reading adj.
ΚΠ
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Eiij Ye procure By your lasciuious speache, that fathers sage Defends verse reading, to their yonger age.
1938 L. MacNeice Mod. Poetry ii. 41 This [sc. the Golden Treasury] was my chief verse-reading for two years.
verse-repeating adj.
ΚΠ
a1704 T. Brown Dialogues of Dead in 4th Vol. Wks. (1720) 181 The Verse-repeating Beaux of Will's Coffee-house.
verse-speaking adj.
ΚΠ
1933 Amer. Speech 8 iv. 39/2 Outside of the school there may be a place for verse-speaking choirs.
1980 Times 5 Sept. 11/7 His verse-speaking consists of a heavy lurch from beat to beat.
verse-writing adj.
ΚΠ
1755 M. Barber in Colman & Thornton Poems by Eminent Ladies I. 23 There's nothing I dread, like a verse-writing wife.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. ii. 15 If he was distinguished for anything it was for verse-writing.
1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket ii. ii. 113 So if the city be sick..your lordship would suspend me from verse-writing?
b. Instrumental.
verse-commemorated adj.
ΚΠ
1842 S. C. Hall & A. M. Hall Ireland II. 339 The long celebrated and verse-commemorated month of August.
c.
verseward adv.
ΚΠ
1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 230 But if, in spite of all the world can say, Thou still wilt verseward plod thy weary way.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† verseadj.
Obsolete. rare.
verse-sine = versed sine at versed adj.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > [noun] > branches of > trigonometry > functions of > versed sine
shaft1552
versed sine1581
arrow1594
sagitta1675
co-versed sine1706
verse-sine1772
suversed sine1782
versina1831
1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 102 An arch equal to the verse-sine of the deviation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
versev.1
/vəːs/, U.S. /vərs/ 1. intransitive. To compose or make verses; to versify. Also with it.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > compose poetry [verb (intransitive)]
versec1000
rhymec1300
versify1377
makea1387
metrea1415
poetizea1586
compose1602
poetrize1602
sing1638
rhythm1655
poeticize1817
poesy1820
rune1832
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) xxxvii. 218 Uersificor, ic fersige [v.rr. uersige, fyrsige] oððe ic wyrce fers.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xviii. 109 For þer is nouthe non who so nymeþ hede, That can uersie [v.r. versifie] fayre, oþer formeliche endite.
1606 G. Chapman Monsieur D'Oliue iv. i. F iij b Prettie little Witt, y' faith; Can he verse?.. I meane, has he a vaine Naturall?
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 77 You verse it simply, what need have we of your thin Poetry.
1688 W. Scot True Hist. Families ii. (1776) 73 Come on as many as you will, And for a wager, I'l verse with them still.
1787 in R. Burns Wks. (1800) II. 105 It sets na ony lawland cheel Like you to verse or rhyme.
1809 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. May 9 I'll prose it here, I'll verse it there, And picturesque it everywhere.
1856 G. Meredith Shaving of Shagpat (1909) 66 He began to verse extemporaneously in her ear.
2. transitive. To tell in verse; to turn into verse; to write, recount, or celebrate in verse.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > compose (poetry) [verb (transitive)] > recount or celebrate in poetry
singc825
versifyc1386
verse1446
berime?1589
poetize?1594
warble1605
beverse1763
1446 J. Lydgate Two Nightingale Poems i. 108 This brid, of whom y haue to you rehersed, Whych in her song expired thus ande deyede, In latyn fonde y in a boke well versed.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 67 When thou..sat all day, Playing on pipes of corne, and versing loue, To amorous Phillida. View more context for this quotation
c1712 M. Prior Full oft doth Mat 4 But Topaz his own Werke rehearseth; And Mat. mote praise what Topaz verseth.
1869 F. Halleck Connecticut xxxiv He..versed the Psalms of David to the air Of Yankee-Doodle, for Thanksgiving Days.
1892 S. A. Brooke Hist. Early Eng. Lit. I. 12 The wanderer..sang his stave of thanks, or versed for the chief in the high seat, who he was.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > compose (poetry) [verb (transitive)] > accompany with verse
verse1602
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida v. sig. H3 If that thou canst not giue, goe hang thy selfe: Ile rime thee dead, or verse thee to the rope.
Derivatives
ˈversing adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > [adjective] > composing verse
rhyming1566
rhythmical1567
versifying1580
versing1630
rhythmopoetic1865
1630 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgrimage in All Wks. i. 125/1 My versing Muse craues some repose, And whilst she sleeps Ile spowt a little prose.
1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies 55 I should..throw out the vast rabble of rhyming, clinching, versing Prophets, as persons that tell the worst lies in the best maner.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
versev.2
/vəːs/, U.S. /vərs/ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > [verb (transitive)] > utter > employ (voice) in utterance
speak1382
raisec1384
enhance1483
lilt1513
versea1533
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxxxxv. sig. C*iiv Than she [sc. a nightingale]..fylled her throte full of wynde the more shryller to verse out her swete voyce.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > capsize or upset
overcastc1230
overturnc1300
overthrowc1330
to-turna1382
overwhelm?a1400
tilta1400
tipa1400
welt?a1400
overtiltc1400
tirvec1420
reverse?a1439
devolvec1470
subvert1479
welter?a1505
renverse1521
tumble1534
verse1556
upturn1567
overwhirl1577
rewalt1587
subverse1590
overset1599
overtumble1600
walt1611
to fetch up1615
ramvert1632
treveer1636
transvolve1644
capsize1788
upset1806
keel1828
overwelt1828
pitch-pole1851
purl1856
1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie xliii. 40 This formost spider and flie, in furius fret,..this prosesse thei perst. And vengeable venumly, ech other verst.
a. To turn over (a book) in study or investigation. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > reading > [verb (transitive)] > turn pages
to turn overc1405
revolve1485
volve1523
toss1555
verse1606
1606 W. Birnie Blame of Kirk-buriall v. sig. B3 v By versing and searching the Scriptures.
a1656 J. Hales Golden Remains (1673) i. 271 If you be versing the Ancient Histories, then provide you Ptolomy's Maps.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > consider, deliberate [verb (transitive)]
i-thenchec897
showeOE
i-mune971
thinkOE
overthinkOE
takec1175
umbethinkc1175
waltc1200
bethinkc1220
wend?c1225
weighc1380
delivera1382
peisea1382
considerc1385
musec1390
to look over ——a1393
advise?c1400
debatec1400
roll?c1400
revert?a1425
advertc1425
deliberc1425
movec1425
musec1425
revolvec1425
contemplec1429
overseec1440
to think overc1440
perpend1447
roil1447
pondera1450
to eat inc1450
involvec1470
ponderate?a1475
reputec1475
counterpoise1477
poisea1483
traversec1487
umbecast1487
digest1488
undercast1489
overhalec1500
rumble1519
volve?1520
compassa1522
recount1526
trutinate1528
cast1530
expend1531
ruminate1533
concoct1534
contemplate1538
deliberate1540
revolute1553
chawa1558
to turn over1568
cud1569
cogitate1570
huik1570
chew1579
meditatec1580
discourse1581
speculate1599
theorize1599
scance1603
verse1614
pensitate1623
agitate1629
spell1633
view1637
study1659
designa1676
introspect1683
troll1685
balance1692
to figure on or upon1837
reflect1862
mull1873
to mull over1874
scour1882
mill1905
1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket v. 235 Who versing in his minde this thought, can keepe his cheekes dry?
4. To instruct, to make (one) conversant or experienced, in something. Now reflexive. Cf. versed adj.2 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > [verb (transitive)]
i-taechec888
lerec900
iwisseOE
to teach a personc1000
wisc1000
ylereOE
avayc1315
readc1330
learna1382
informc1384
beteacha1400
form1399
kena1400
redec1400
indoctrinea1450
instructc1449
ensign1474
doctrine1475
introduct1481
lettera1500
endoctrinec1500
to have (a person) in schooling?1553
lesson1555
tutor1592
orthographize1596
pupil1599
con1612
indoctrinate1621
art1628
doctrinate1631
document1648
verse1672
documentizea1734
form1770
intuit1776
skill1809
indoctrinize1861
society > education > teaching > [verb (reflexive)]
verse1895
1672 O. Walker Of Educ. i. xi. 132 For reading; verse him well in inventive Authors.
1766 W. Combe Diaboliad (1777) 43 Having vers'd them in each common evil, [you] Lead them to Masques to personate the Devil.
1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscretions V. 164 The intrigues of state affairs had thoroughly versed him in chicanery and dissimulation.
1895 G. Alexander in Daily News 4 Oct. 2/2 If students while versing themselves in the classics were [etc.].
1898 R. F. Horton Commandm. Jesus xx. 362 This is my own feeling—a feeling which grows and intensifies the more I verse myself in His commandments.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† versev.3
Cant. Obsolete.
1. intransitive. To practise fraud or imposition. Also with it.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > defraud or swindle [verb (intransitive)]
to pull a finchc1386
to bore a person's nose?1577
to wipe a person's nose1577
verse1591
lurch1593
to grope a gull1594
cheat1647
to lick (another's) fingers1656
to live upon the shark1694
sharp1709
fineer1765
to pluck a pigeon1769
swindle1769
to run a game1894
to sell (a person) a pup1901
scam1963
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 10v If the poore Farmar be bashfull, & passeth by one of these shameles strumpets, then wil she verse it with him, & claime acquaintance of him.
1592 ‘C. Cony-Catcher’ Def. Conny-catching sig. A3 v I had consorts that could verse, nippe, and foyst.
1592 R. Greene Disput. Conny-catcher sig. B We goe so neat in apparrell..that wee are hardly smoakt, versing vpon all men with kinde courtesies and faire wordes.
2. transitive. To impose upon; to cozen, cheat, defraud. Also const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 10v Till shee and her crosse-biters haue verst him to the beggers estate.
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 11v Heere is a Simpler, quoth shee, Ile Verse him or hang me.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > [noun]
defraudc1450
defraudationc1503
fraudingc1530
defrauding1548
cheateryc1555
cheatingc1555
versing1591
begeckc1600
sharking1602
shaving1606
rooking1635
defraudment1645
emunging1664
prowlerya1670
bilking1687
sharping1692
mace1742
fineering1765
swindling1769
highway robbery1777
macing1811
flat-catching1821
ramping1830
swindlery1833
rigging1846
diddlinga1849
suck-in1856
daylight robbery1863
cooking1873
bunco-steering1875
chousing1881
fiddling1884
verneukery1896
padding1900
verneukering1900
bobol1907
swizzle1913
ramp1915
swizz1915
chizzing1948
tweedling1975
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 8 Versing Law. Coosenage by false gold.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
versev.4
/vəːs/, U.S. /vərs/ colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.).
transitive. To compete against (a person or team) in a game or sport.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > [verb (transitive)] > against a person
play?1536
verse1984
1984 N.Y. Times 20 Feb. b3/4 We're going to be versing the Brown Bombers next week.
1996 rec.games.video.sega 14 May (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 8 July 2019) Could anyone tell me what this game is... Could two players verse each other?
2014 @gcarluengarcia 29 Apr. in twitter.com (accessed 22 July 2019) First game of the Autumn season. & we versed the champions from last year already!
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
> see also
also refers to : -versecomb. form
<
n.c900
adj.1772
v.1c1000v.2a1533v.31591v.41984see also