a sonnet form associated with the poet Petrarch, having an octave rhyming a b b a a b b a and a sestet rhyming either c d e c d e or c d c d c d
Also called: Italian sonnet
Petrarchan sonnet in American English
(pɪˈtrɑrkən)
a sonnet composed of a group of eight lines (octave) with two rhymes abba abba, and a group of six lines (sestet) with two or three rhymes variously arranged, typically cde cde or cdc dcd: the thought or theme is stated and developed in the octave, and expanded, contradicted, etc. in the sestet; Italian sonnet