Stanza Meaning
/ˈstænzə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA unit of a poem, written or printed as a paragraph; equivalent to a verse.
nounAn apartment or division in a building.
Sentence Examples
Your poem would be more powerful if you cut the final stanza.
I find the third stanza weak.
The same line is repeated in each stanza.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The poet revised the second ____ of his sonnet to improve the rhyme scheme.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poem has four lines in each ____, which is a common structure for traditional children's verses.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Definition of XML Stanza: An XML stanza is the basic unit of meaning in XMPP."
— 2011, P. Saint-Andre, RFC 6120 - Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core:
"Whenever an XMPP client generates an XML stanza, it typically constructs the XML of the stanza by building up a structured document […]"
— 2009, Tim Riley, Adam Goucher, Beautiful Testing: Leading Professionals Reveal How They Improve Software:
"Technically speaking, federation is the ability for two XMPP servers in different domains to exchange XML stanzas."
— 2009, John Rittinghouse, James F. Ransome, Cloud Computing: Implementation, Management, and Security:
"Actually NBC and other webs have used similar devices in the past, particularly during the war, when net used plattered segments for its news and documentary stanzas. As far as can be determined, however, this is the first post-war instance in which the net has allowed even a partial plattering of a regularly skedded commercial stanza."
— 1957 December 30, “NBC Breaks Wax Rule for Hope's Britain Shows”, in Billboard, volume 59, number 45, page 5:
"The game's prime moment wasn't the decisive and popular eighth-inning, two-run homer by Mark Bellhorn, which ticked off the friendly Fenway right-field foul pole, but a sensational play by Boston's Manny Ramirez in the top of that same stanza."
— 2004 November 22, Roger Angell, “Long Voyage Home”, in The New Yorker, volume 80, number 36, page 50:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The poet revised the second ____ of his sonnet to improve the rhyme scheme.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poem has four lines in each ____, which is a common structure for traditional children's verses.