stanza
/ˈstænzə/ noun
Forms stanzas
- noun (poetry) A unit of a poem, written or printed as a paragraph; equivalent to a verse.
- noun (architecture) An apartment or division in a building.
- noun (computing) An XML element which acts as basic unit of meaning in XMPP.
- noun (computing) A section of a configuration file consisting of a related group of lines.
- noun (broadcasting) A segment; a portion of a broadcast devoted to a particular topic.
- noun (sports) A period; an interval into which a sporting event is divided.
Etymology
From Italian stanza, from Vulgar Latin *stantia (“standing, stopping-place”), from Latin stāns, stantis, from stō, stāre, from Proto-Italic *staēō, from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti, stative verb from *steh₂- (whence English stand). Doublet of stance.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A number of lines or verses forming a division of a song or poem, and agreeing in meter, rhyme, number of lines, etc., with other divisions; a part of a poem, ordinarily containing every variation of measure in that poem; a combination or arrangement of lines usually recurring; whether like or unlike, in measure.
- noun An apartment or division in a building; a room or chamber.
Etymology [It. stanza a room, habitation, a stanza, i. e., a stop, fr. L. stans, p.pr. of stare to stand. See Stand, and cf. Estancia, Stance, Stanchion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stanza”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details