rubai
/ruːˈbʌɪ/(also ruba'i, ruba'iy)
noun
In Persian poetry: a quatrain.
- The term became widely known in English in the plural form through the publication of Edward FitzGerald's translation, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám..
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in New Asiatic Miscellany. From Persian rubāʿī and its etymon Arabic rubāʿī tetrastich, quatrain, use as noun of rubāʿī consisting of four, quadripartite, fourfold, quadruple from rubāʿ four at a time + -ī.