noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A medieval poetic form consisting of two or more three line units in each stanza, with the rhyme scheme AABAAB. historical

   "Now making layes of loue and louers paine, / Bransles, Ballads, virelayes, and verses vaine [...]."

Example

More examples

"Now making layes of loue and louers paine, / Bransles, Ballads, virelayes, and verses vaine [...]."

Etymology

From Old French virelai, alteration (after lai) of vireli.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.