noun
sonnet
SAH-nit/ˈsɑːnɪt/
A fourteen-line poem, usually with a formal rhyme scheme.
The poet arranges the sonnet's fourteen lines in three quatrains and a final couplet.
Etymology
The “little song” image links the name to lyric poetry. In English it could once mean any short lyric poem, while the formal sense names a fourteen-line pattern.
In context
the basic form of the sonnet which is 14 lines of usually iambic pentameter rhymed in any number of ways usually there are two or three standard ways of rhyming them
More examples
- His sonnet ends with two rhyming lines.
- We compare the rhyme schemes of two sonnets.
- She writes a sonnet about the first snowfall.
Forms
sonnet · sonnets
sonneteer noun — A poet who writes sonnets.