sonnet

sonnet — noun

1. a form of poetry with fourteen lines that follow a set rhyming structure, writte

1.nounB2
Definition

a form of poetry with fourteen lines that follow a set rhyming structure, written to express a single thought, feeling, or story

Example

Last spring, the class studied a famous sonnet by Shakespeare.

sonnet by [author]

Constanza wrote a sonnet describing the ocean for her poetry assignment.

Common collocations
  • write a sonnet
  • compose a sonnet
  • Shakespearean sonnet
  • Petrarchan sonnet
  • sonnet sequence
  • love sonnet
  • sonnet form
  • sonnet structure

Grammar Patterns

a sonnet

sonnets

Usage Note

The two most common types are the English (or Shakespearean) sonnet, which rhymes abab cdcd efef gg, and the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet, which uses an octave and a sestet. Each line usually has ten syllables in a rhythm called iambic pentameter.

Word family

  • sonneteer
    nounC2
  • sonnet sequence
    nounC1
  • sonnet-like
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A poem is the broadest term — any piece of writing arranged in lines with rhythm and imagery. Every sonnet is a poem, but not every poem is a sonnet. An ode is a lyric poem that praises a person, thing, or event, usually longer than a sonnet and without its strict 14-line structure. A haiku is a very short Japanese poem of just three lines and seventeen syllables, completely different in length and form from a sonnet. A lyric is any poem that expresses personal emotions, and a sonnet is a specific type of lyric with a fixed rhyme scheme and meter. For example, you would say 'Wordsworth wrote a sonnet about London' but 'Keats wrote an ode to a nightingale' — only the sonnet follows fourteen lines of iambic pentameter.

poem ↗odehaiku ↗lyric ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • a sonnet about [topic]
  • a sonnet by [poet]

Prepositions

  • in a sonnet

Etymology

LatinItalianFrenchEnglish

Sonnet comes from the Italian word 'sonetto', meaning 'little song', which was formed from 'suono' (sound), tracing back to the Latin 'sonus' (sound). The name reflects the form's origins in 13th-century Italian poetry, where these short poems were often set to music.