Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “versification” come from?

Versification comes from English verse, from Latin versus meaning "a line of writing," from Latin vertere meaning "to turn," from Proto-Indo-European wer- meaning "to turn."

versification (English): The act, art, or practice of composing poetic...

Definitions

  1. The act, art, or practice of composing poetic...

Ancestry of “versification”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishverseA poetic form with regular meter and a fixed...
2Middle EnglishversA line or passage of a text or work; A larger...
3Old Englishfersverse; sentence, title
4Latinversusturned, changed, having been turned; towards,...
5Latinvertō—
6Proto-Italicwertō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwert-to turn, to rotate
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer- →