Poetry

How to spell poetry

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce poetry

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does poetry mean?

1. nounLiterary work in which language is chosen for its sound and rhythm, often arranged in verse.

Poetry in a sentence

• She published a slim volume of poetry in the spring.

• The evening class explored modern poetry from several countries.

Where does poetry come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the ancient Greek poietes, meaning 'a maker' or 'a creator', which itself grew from the verb poiein, 'to make' or 'to compose'. To the Greek mind a poet was quite literally a maker of things, someone who shaped words into ordered, crafted form, and the related noun poiesis meant the very act of making. This passed into Latin as poeta and poetria, then into Old French as poetrie, before arriving in English in the 1300s. The spelling keeps the telltale 'poet' at its heart, which is the easiest way to remember the 'oe' pairing before the silent shift to the 'ry' ending. The same making root still echoes in modern words like 'onomatopoeia', the making of words from sounds.

How the word is built

• poet (from Greek poietes: a maker, composer)
• -ry (noun suffix denoting a body or art of)