poetry

Alternative forms

• poëtry (rare or archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English poetrye, poetrie, a borrowing from Old French pöeterie, pöetrie, from Medieval Latin poētria, from poēta (“poet”), from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “poet; author; maker”). Displaced native Old English lēoþcræft.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊɪtɹi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊətɹi/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: po‧et‧ry

Noun

poetry (usually uncountable, plural poetries)

2. Literature composed in verse or language exhibiting conscious attention to patterns and rhythm.

   Synonyms: (archaic) poesy, verse

   Antonym: prose

   • 2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?‎, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 263:

     More people write poetry than read it.

3. A poet's literary production.
4. (figurative) An artistic quality that appeals to or evokes the emotions, in any medium; something having such a quality.

   That 'Swan Lake' choreography is poetry in motion, fitting the musical poetry of Tchaikovski's divine score well beyond the literary inspiration.

Anagrams

• Proyet, Torpey, tropey