Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Poetical works; poetry.
  • noun The art or practice of composing poems.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The art of poetic composition; skill in making poems.
  • noun Poetry; metrical composition.
  • noun A poem.
  • noun A motto or sentimental conceit engraved on a ring or other trinket. See posy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty.
  • noun Poetry; metrical composition; poems.
  • noun A short conceit or motto engraved on a ring or other thing; a posy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun literature in metrical form

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English poesie, from Old French, from Latin poēsis, from Greek poiēsis, from poiein, to create; see kwei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French poesie, from Latin poēsis.

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Examples

  • To me poesy is the crystalization of a time, place, mood, event, etc. made very personal by the words and form chosen.

    poesie - French Word-A-Day 2008

  • I will show more imagery in twenty lines of Pope than in any equal length of quotation in English poesy, and that in places where they least expect it.

    Life of Lord Byron With His Letters And Journals Byron, George G 1854

  • _imagery_ in twenty lines of Pope than in any equal length of quotation in English poesy, and that in places where they least expect it.

    Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 5 (of 6) With His Letters and Journals George Gordon Byron Byron 1806

  • Budur; and’ kissing her between the eyes, looked at Maymunah and at his beloved Princess and recited the following verses, albeit he had no skill in poesy,

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum doemonum, because it filleth the imagination; and yet, it is but with the shadow of a lie.

    The Essays 2007

  • Did not one of the fathers in great indignation call poesy vinum daemonum, because it increaseth temptations, perturbations, and vain opinions?

    The Advancement of Learning 2003

  • One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum dæmonum [devils’-wine], because it filleth the imagination; and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie.

    I. Of Truth 1909

  • Dishes are more or less mixed up with poesy, which is full of "flowing bowls,"

    The Complete Home Oliver R. [Contributor] Williamson 1907

  • "One of the fathers, in great severity called poesy _vinum dæmonum_," says Bacon: himself too fanciful for a philosopher.

    Logic Deductive and Inductive Carveth Read 1889

  • One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy _vinum doemonum, _ because it filleth the imagination, and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie.

    Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 3 Charles Dudley Warner 1864

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