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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

prose en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɹoʊz/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • /ˈpɹəʊz/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English prose, from Old French prose, from Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) from the term prōsa ōrātiō (“a straightforward speech – i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). further etymology and related terms The term prōsa (“straightforward”), a colloquial form of prorsa (“straight forwards”), the feminine form prorsus (“straight forwards”), from Old Latin prōvorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), form of vertō (“to turn”). Compare verse.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable, usually) Language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry.
    • Though known mostly for her prose, she also produced a small body of excellent poems.
    • ...Or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow’d Faft by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th’ Ionian Mounts while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime... 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost (1st ed):
  2. (uncountable, usually) Language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.
    • ...the vehicle is plodding prose, but the effect is none the less poignant. And in regard to this I may say that in a hundred places in Trollope the extremity of pathos is reached by the homeliest means. 1888, Henry James, Partial Portraits, Macmillan:
  3. (uncountable, usually) A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass.
    • Proses are parts of the Office of the Mass which are sung just before the Gospel, upon great Festivals. The French also call those Rhythmical Hymns Proses, which are sung in their Offices in the Church of Rome, in which Rhime only, and not Quantity of Syllables, is observed. 1699, A new ecclesiastical history:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
proses Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

verse · poetry

Deriveds

prosification · purple prose · prosify · proselike · proseman · technoprose · prose poem · beprose · prosist · beige prose · prosimetrical · transprose · prosal · prosewise · rhymeprose · Prose Edda

Relateds

prosaic · prosody

Translations (79)

km ពាក្យលាត (written language not intended as poetry) · km ពាក្យរាយ (written language not intended as poetry) · he פְּרוֹזָה (written language not intended as poetry) · it prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · la prōsa (written language not intended as poetry) · ru про́за (written language not intended as poetry) · de Prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · ta உரைநடை (written language not intended as poetry) · fo skaldskapur á óbundnum máli (written language not intended as poetry) · fi proosa (written language not intended as poetry) · ur نثر (written language not intended as poetry) · kk проза (written language not intended as poetry) · te గద్యము (written language not intended as poetry) · ro proză (written language not intended as poetry) · eu prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · mn үргэлжилсэн үгийн зохиол (written language not intended as poetry) · tk proza (written language not intended as poetry) · uz nasr (written language not intended as poetry) · cmn 散文 (written language not intended as poetry) · sq prozë (written language not intended as poetry) · ml ഗദ്യം (written language not intended as poetry) · my စုဏ္ဏိယ (written language not intended as poetry) · fr prose (written language not intended as poetry) · az nəsr (written language not intended as poetry) · ang spell (written language not intended as poetry) · ug نەسر (written language not intended as poetry) · vi văn xuôi (written language not intended as poetry) · gl prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · uz proza (written language not intended as poetry) · is prósa (written language not intended as poetry) · ja 散文 (written language not intended as poetry) · sh próza (written language not intended as poetry) · fa نثر (written language not intended as poetry) · fo prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · nb prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · be про́за (written language not intended as poetry) · nl ondicht (written language not intended as poetry) · hy արձակ (written language not intended as poetry) · lt proza (written language not intended as poetry) · cs próza (written language not intended as poetry) · fo óbundið mál (written language not intended as poetry) · hu próza (written language not intended as poetry) · ko 산문 (written language not intended as poetry) · sv prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · tr mensur (written language not intended as poetry) · ug پروزا (written language not intended as poetry) · uk про́за (written language not intended as poetry) · yi פּראָזע (written language not intended as poetry) · ar نَثْر (written language not intended as poetry) · lo ຮ້ອຽແກ້ວ (written language not intended as poetry) · lv proza (written language not intended as poetry) · tr düzyazı (written language not intended as poetry) · sw nathari (written language not intended as poetry) · bn গদ্য (written language not intended as poetry) · el πεζογραφία (written language not intended as poetry) · th ร้อยแก้ว (written language not intended as poetry) · pt prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · es prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · et proosa (written language not intended as poetry) · mk проза (written language not intended as poetry) · kn ಗದ್ಯ (written language not intended as poetry) · nl proza (written language not intended as poetry) · ms prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · ca prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · ky проза (written language not intended as poetry) · sk próza (written language not intended as poetry) · tg наср (written language not intended as poetry) · tr inşa (written language not intended as poetry) · tr nesir (written language not intended as poetry) · jv gancaran (written language not intended as poetry) · id prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · sl proza (written language not intended as poetry) · eo prozo (written language not intended as poetry) · sh про́за (written language not intended as poetry) · hi गद्य (written language not intended as poetry) · ka პროზა (written language not intended as poetry) · da prosa (written language not intended as poetry) · pl proza (written language not intended as poetry) · bg про́за (written language not intended as poetry)

prose en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɹoʊz/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • /ˈpɹəʊz/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English prose, from Old French prose, from Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) from the term prōsa ōrātiō (“a straightforward speech – i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). further etymology and related terms The term prōsa (“straightforward”), a colloquial form of prorsa (“straight forwards”), the feminine form prorsus (“straight forwards”), from Old Latin prōvorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), form of vertō (“to turn”). Compare verse.

Meanings

  1. To write or repeat in a dull, tedious, or prosy way.
    • Already he felt himself near to being a celebrity. He had astonished Eton. That was a good beginning. Papa might prose, knowing, of course, nothing of the poetry of caricature, of the wild joys and the laurels that crown the whimsical. So while Mr. Lane hunted adjectives, and ran sad-sounding and damnatory substantives to earth, Eustace hugged himself, and secretly chuckled over his pilgrim's progress towards the pages of Vanity Fair. 1896, Robert Smythe Hichens, The Folly of Eustace:
    • Pray, do not prose, good Ethelbert, but speak; What is your purpose? 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, act I, scene II, verses 189-190:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
prosing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
proses Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
prosed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
prosed Tense=Past lexicographic