A sonnet is a poem that has 14 lines. Each line has 10 syllables, and the poem has a fixed pattern of rhymes.
sonnet in British English
(ˈsɒnɪt) prosody
noun
1.
a verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines in iambic pentameter with rhymes arranged according to a fixed scheme, usually divided either into octave and sestet or, in the English form, into three quatrains and a couplet
verb
2. (intransitive)
to compose sonnets
3. (transitive)
to celebrate in a sonnet
Word origin
C16: via Italian from Old Provençal sonet a little poem, from son song, from Latin sonus a sound
sonnet in American English
(ˈsɑnɪt)
noun
1.
a poem normally of fourteen lines in any of several fixed verse and rhyme schemes, typically in rhymed iambicpentameter: sonnets characteristically express a single theme or idea
see also Petrarchan sonnet, Shakespearean sonnet
verb transitive, verb intransitive
2.
sonnetize
Word origin
Fr < It sonnetto < Prov sonet, dim. of son, a sound, song < L sonus, a sound1
Examples of 'sonnet' in a sentence
sonnet
You have to write a sonnet.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
We performed Shakespearean sonnets using street language.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
So does his first published poem, the sonnet on Shakespeare.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
An iPhone cover that could inspire you to text or e-mail in sonnet form.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
sonnet
British English: sonnet NOUN
A sonnet is a poem that has 14 lines and a fixed pattern of rhymes.
American English: sonnet
Brazilian Portuguese: soneto
Chinese: 十四行诗
European Spanish: soneto
French: sonnet
German: Sonett
Italian: sonetto
Japanese: ソネット
Korean: 소네트
European Portuguese: soneto
Latin American Spanish: soneto
All related terms of 'sonnet'
English sonnet
a sonnet form developed in 16th-century England and employed by Shakespeare , having the rhyme scheme a b a b c d c d e f e f g g
Italian sonnet
→ Petrarchan sonnet
sonnet sequence
a group of sonnets composed by one poet and having a unifying theme or subject
Elizabethan sonnet
→ Shakespearean sonnet
Petrarchan sonnet
a sonnet form associated with the poet Petrarch , having an octave rhyming a b b a a b b a and a sestet rhyming either c d e c d e or c d c d c d
Spenserian sonnet
a sonnet form used by the poet Spenser having the rhyme scheme a b a b b c b c c d c d e e
Shakespearean sonnet
a sonnet form developed in 16th-century England and employed by Shakespeare , having the rhyme scheme a b a b c d c d e f e f g g