Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A five-line stanza.
  • noun A poem of five lines consisting respectively of two, four, six, eight, and two syllables.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A stanza of five lines.
  • noun In old military evolutions, an order of battle governing the drawing up of five battalions so as to constitute three lines—that is, a van, main body, and reserve.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A five line poetic form which consists of 2, 4, 6, 8 then 2 syllables.
  • noun A five line poetic form which consists of 1 noun, 2 adjectives, 3 actions, 4 feeling words, then 1 noun that is the same as top noun

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French cinq, five (from Old French cinc; see cinque) + (quatr)ain.]

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