verse

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Etymology 1

From Middle English vers, from a mixture of Old English fers and Old French vers; both from Latin versus (“a line in writing, and in poetry a verse; (originally) row, furrow”), from vertō (“to turn around”).

Noun

verse (countable and uncountable, plural verses)

1. A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme.

   Synonym: poetry

   Restoration literature is well known for its carefully constructed verse.

2. Poetic form in general.

   The restrictions of verse have been steadily relaxed over time.

3. One of several similar units of a song, consisting of several lines, generally rhymed.

   Synonym: stanza

   Note the shift in tone between the first verse and the second.

4. A small section of a holy book (Bible, Quran etc.)

   Holonym: chapter

5. (music) A portion of an anthem to be performed by a single voice to each part.

Derived terms

Related terms

• versification
• versify

Translations

Verb

verse (third-person singular simple present verses, present participle versing, simple past and past participle versed)

1. (obsolete) To compose verses.
   • a. 1587 (date written), Phillip Sidney [i.e., Philip Sidney], An Apologie for Poetrie. , London: for Henry Olney, , published 1595, →OCLC; republished as Edward Arber, editor, An Apologie for Poetrie (English Reprints), London: , 1 April 1868, →OCLC:

     It is not rhyming and versing that maketh a poet.

2. (transitive) To tell in verse, or poetry.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     playing on pipes of corn and versing love

3. (transitive, figurative) to educate about, to teach about.

   He versed us in the finer points of category theory.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. […] Next day she […] tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and had perhaps spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from versus, misconstrued as a third-person singular verb verses.

Verb

verse (third-person singular simple present verses, present participle versing, simple past and past participle versed)

1. (colloquial, sometimes proscribed) To oppose, to compete against, especially in a video game.

   Verse him, G!

   • 2007 March 26, Nick Green, “Being illiterate and innumerate shouldn’t shame anyone”, in Sydney Morning Herald‎:

     When teams play now they "verse" each other. "Who did you verse?" (Forget "whom". It's long dead.) "We're versing you next." Pity the Latin scholar who might feel the loss of "versus" more keenly than many.

   • 2009 August 11, CrazyGunner , “Verse me on Onslaught”, in Nintendo Life‎:

     If you've got Onslaught let me know and I'll verse you.

   • 2020 April 9, AgentPigeon122 , “The Graphic Organizer Information”, in Course Hero‎:

     Ariel is worried for the race, because she is versing her best competitor, and she really wants to win.

Further reading

• “verse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “verse”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “verse”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• reves, serve, sever, veers

Afrikaans

Noun

verse

1. plural of vers

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

verse

1. inflection of vers:
   1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
   2. definite neuter singular attributive
   3. plural attributive

Anagrams

• vrees

Etruscan

Romanization

verse

1. Romanization of 𐌅𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌄

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁs/

Adjective

verse (plural verses)

1. Only used in sinus verse (“versed sine, versine”)

Noun

verse f (countable and uncountable, plural verses)

1. (dated except in pleuvoir à verse) pouring
2. (agriculture) lodging (bending of the stems of crops which reduces yield)
3. (obsolete) basket used to transport around 35 pounds of charcoal
4. (especially BDSM) One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship; a switch.

Derived terms

• pleuvoir à verse

Verb

verse

1. inflection of verser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• “verse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• resve, rêves, rêvés, serve

Hungarian

Etymology

vers +‎ -e (possessive suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ver‧se

Noun

verse

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of vers

Declension

Latin

Participle

verse

1. vocative masculine singular of versus

Middle English

Noun

verse

1. Alternative form of vers

Portuguese

Verb

verse

1. inflection of versar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Verb

verse

1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of vărsa

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɾse/
• Rhymes: -eɾse
• Syllabification: ver‧se

Verb

verse

1. infinitive of ver combined with se
2. inflection of versar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative