cinquain

cinquain
/sing kayn", sing"kayn/, n.
1. a group of five.
2. Pros.
a. a short poem consisting of five, usually unrhymed lines containing, respectively, two, four, six, eight, and two syllables.
b. any stanza of five lines.
[1705-15; < F < LL cinque (see CINQUE) + F -ain collective suffix. See QUATRAIN]

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poetry
      a five-line stanza. The American poet Adelaide Crapsey (Crapsey, Adelaide) (1878–1914), applied the term in particular to a five-line verse form of specific metre that she developed. Analogous to the Japanese verse forms haiku and tanka, it has two syllables in its first and last lines and four, six, and eight in the intervening three lines and generally has an iambic (iamb) cadence. An example is her poem “November Night”:

Listen…
With faint dry sound
Like steps of passing ghosts,
the leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees
And fall.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Cinquain — (pronounced /ˈsɪŋkeɪn/) is a class of poetic forms that employ a 5 line pattern. Earlier used to describe any five line form, it now refers to one of several forms that are defined by specific rules and guidelines.[1] Contents 1 Crapsey… …   Wikipedia

  • cinquain — (n.) collection of five, 1711, from Fr. cinquain bundle of five objects, from cinq five (see FIVE (Cf. five)). Originally in English of military orders of battle; of five lined stanzas of verse from 1882 …   Etymology dictionary

  • cinquain — (sin kin) s. m. Pièce, couplet de cinq vers, nommé plus souvent quintil. HISTORIQUE    XVIe s. •   Cinquain, OUDIN Dict.. ÉTYMOLOGIE    Cinq, comme quatre a formé quatrain. Cinquain s est dit pour une collection de cinq objets quelconques : un… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • cinquain — noun Etymology: French, from cinq five, from Old French, from Latin quinque more at five Date: 1882 a 5 line stanza …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Cinquain — Quintil Un quintil est une strophe composée de cinq vers. Portail de la poésie Ce document provient de « Quintil ». Catégorie : Versification …   Wikipédia en Français

  • cinquain — noun /sɪn.ken/ a) A five line poetic form which consists of 2, 4, 6, 8 then 2 syllables. b) 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 …   Wiktionary

  • cinquain — cin·quain …   English syllables

  • cinquain — cin•quain [[t]sɪŋˈkeɪn, ˈsɪŋ keɪn[/t]] n. 1) a group of five 2) pro a stanza of five lines • Etymology: 1705–15; < F cinq five (« L quīnque). Cf. quatrain …   From formal English to slang

  • cinquain — /ˈsɪŋkeɪn/ (say singkayn), /sɪŋˈkeɪn/ (say sing kayn) noun Prosody a short poem consisting of five, usually unrhymed lines. {French, from Late Latin cinque five + French ain collective suffix. Compare quatrain} …  

  • cinquain —   n. group of five, especially five line stanza …   Dictionary of difficult words

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