Sestina
noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet or envoy, for a total of thirty-nine lines.
"Although the sestina is of medieval French origin, attributed to Arnaut Daniel in the late twelfth century and used by other Gallic poets and by Italians including Petrarch and Dante (from whom it received its Italian name), […]"
- 2 A chord comprising the first six members of the harmonic series.
Example
More examples"Although the sestina is of medieval French origin, attributed to Arnaut Daniel in the late twelfth century and used by other Gallic poets and by Italians including Petrarch and Dante (from whom it received its Italian name), […]"
Etymology
From Italian sestina. Doublet of sextain.
Related phrases
More for "sestina"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.