rhyme royal

plural rhymes royal · alternative rime royal

1. uncountablecommunicationsA form of English verse consisting of seven-line stanzas of iambic pentameter having a rhyme scheme of ababbcc, first represented in English in works by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400).

   Perhaps the most engaging of the Rowley poems are "An Excelente Balade of Charitie," written in the rhyme royal; and "The Bristowe Tragedie," in the common ballad stanza.

   1898, Henry Augustin Beers, chapter 10, in 18th Century: A History of English Romanticism

   Synonyms: ballade royal, rhythm royal

2. countablecommunicationsA single stanza of this form.

   Chaucer for years before the Prologue to LGW had been writing heroic couplets at the close of each of his rhymes royal.

   1938 Jan, H. S. V. Jones, “Brief Mention”, in The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, volume 37, number 1, page 126