quatrain

Q10U1A1T1R1A1I1N1
/ˈkwɒt.ɹeɪn/

noun

A poem in four lines.

“Example:”

Similar
tetrastich
OriginFrench quatrain →
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nounquatrain (plural quatrains)

plural quatrains

  1. A poem in four lines.
  2. A stanza of four lines.

    Example:

    5 more examples

    Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night,

    Has flung the Stone that puts the stars to flight:

    And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

    The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of light.

    The menu card was designed by Mr. Arthur Hacker, and further enriched by some charming verses in Omarian quatrains from Mr. Le Gallienne, who read them to a sympathetic audience.

    1894 December 26, The Sketch, London, page 396, column 1

    Synonyms: tetrastich

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA stanza of four lines.

Similar
tetrastich

Origin

  1. Frenchquatre
  2. Frenchquatrain
  3. Englishquatrain

Borrowed from French quatrain.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic رُبَاعِيّ
  • رُبَاعِيّ (rubāʕiyy)a stanza of four lines
Bulgarian четиристишие
  • четиристишие (četiristišie)a stanza of four lines
Catalan quartet, quarteta
  • quarteta stanza of four lines
  • quartetaa stanza of four lines
Chinese Mandarin 四行詩 /四行诗, 四行連 /四行连
  • 四行詩 /四行诗 (sìhángshī)a stanza of four lines
  • 四行連 /四行连 (sìhánglián)a stanza of four lines
Czech čtyřverší
  • čtyřveršía stanza of four lines
Dutch kwatrijn
  • kwatrijna stanza of four lines
Estonian katrään
  • katrääna stanza of four lines
Finnish nelisäe
  • nelisäea stanza of four lines
French quatrain
  • quatraina stanza of four lines
German Quartett
  • Quartetta stanza of four lines
Indonesian caturlarik, pantun
  • caturlarika stanza of four lines
  • pantuna stanza of four lines
  • sajak empat barisa stanza of four lines
Italian quartina
  • quartinaa stanza of four lines
Japanese 四行連, クウォートレイン
  • 四行連 (yongyōren)a stanza of four lines
  • クウォートレイン (kuwōtorein)a stanza of four lines
  • クワトレイン (kuwatorein)a stanza of four lines
Lithuanian katrenas
  • katrenasa stanza of four lines
Persian رباعی
  • رباعی (robâ'i)a stanza of four lines
Polish czterowiersz, tetrastych
  • czterowiersza stanza of four lines
  • tetrastycha stanza of four lines
  • kwartynaa stanza of four lines
Portuguese quarteto, quadra
  • quartetoa stanza of four lines
  • quadraa stanza of four lines
Romanian catren
  • catrena stanza of four lines
Russian четверости́шие, катре́н
  • четверости́шие (četverostíšije)a stanza of four lines
  • катре́н (katrɛ́n)a stanza of four lines
Spanish cuarteto, cuarteta
  • cuartetoa stanza of four lines
  • cuartetaa stanza of four lines
  • redondillaa stanza of four lines
  • serventesioa stanza of four lines
Swedish quatrain, kvadernar
  • quatraina stanza of four lines
  • kvadernara stanza of four lines
  • kvatrina stanza of four lines
  • fyrradinga stanza of four lines
Tagalog kuwarteta
  • kuwartetaa stanza of four lines
Turkish dörtlük
  • dörtlüka stanza of four lines
Vietnamese thơ bốn câu
  • thơ bốn câua stanza of four lines
Cite this entry
APA

quatrain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quatrain

MLA

“quatrain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quatrain. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quatrain,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quatrain.

Source: quatrain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.