prosa

From Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) from the term prōsa ōrātio (“a straightforward speech- i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). The term prōsa (“straightforward”) is a colloquial form of prorsa (“straight forwards”) which is the feminine form of prorsus (“straight forwards”), from Old Latin prōvorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), form of vertō (“to turn”). Compare verse.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈprɔ.za/
Rhymes: -ɔza
Hyphenation: prò‧sa

Noun

prosa f (plural prose)

a prose
a drama (theatre)

Related terms

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “prosa”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

aspro, parso, raspo, raspò, sapro-, saprò, sopra, sopra-, sparo, sparò, spora

Latin

Etymology

Ellipsis of prōsa ōrātiō or prōsa ēloquentia ("straightforward speech", i.e. without the ornaments of verse). Feminine form of prōsus, prōrsus.

Noun

prōsa f (genitive prōsae); first declension

prose

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	prōsa	prōsae
Genitive	prōsae	prōsārum
Dative	prōsae	prōsīs
Accusative	prōsam	prōsās
Ablative	prōsā	prōsīs
Vocative	prōsa	prōsae

Descendants

English: prose
French: prose
Italian: prosa
Piedmontese: pròsa
Portuguese: prosa
→ Romanian: proză
Sicilian: prusa
Spanish: prosa

References

“prosa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
prosa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
prosa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- prose: oratio soluta (not prosa) or simply oratio

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

prosa

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From Latin prosa.

Noun

prosa m (definite singular prosaen)

prose (written or spoken language without metrical structure)

References

“prosa” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

prosa

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From Latin prosa.

Noun

prosa m (definite singular prosaen)

prose (as above)

References

“prosa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈprɔ.sa/
Rhymes: -ɔsa
Syllabification: pro‧sa

Noun

prosa n

inflection of proso:
1. genitive singular
2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese prosa, from Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) in the term prōsa ōrātio (“straightforward speech”), alteration of prōrsa, from the feminine form of prōrsus (“straight, forwards”), from Old Latin prōvorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from prō- (“forward”) + turned.