sestina

S1E1S1T1I1N1A1

noun

A highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet or envoy, for a total of thirty-nine lines.

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

nounsestina (plural sestinas)

plural sestinas

  1. communicationsA highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet or envoy, for a total of thirty-nine lines.

    Would he let others toil to support him while he languished all afternoon over his sestinas?

    2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 11
    1 more example

    Although the sestina is of medieval French origin, attributed to Arnaut Daniel in the late twelfth century and used by other Gallic poets and by Italians including Petrarch and Dante (from whom it received its Italian name), […]

    2002, Annie Finch, Kathrine Varnes, An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 290
  2. entertainmentA chord comprising the first six members of the harmonic series.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Italiansestina
  2. Englishsestina

From Italian sestina. Doublet of sextain.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan sextina
  • sextinaA highly structured poem
Czech sestina
  • sestinaA highly structured poem
Estonian sekstiin
  • sekstiinA highly structured poem
Finnish sestiini
  • sestiiniA highly structured poem
French sextine
  • sextineA highly structured poem
German Sestine
  • SestineA highly structured poem
Greek σεστίνα
  • σεστίνα (sestína)A highly structured poem
Hungarian sestina, szesztina
  • sestinaA highly structured poem
  • szesztinaA highly structured poem
Italian sestina
  • sestinaA highly structured poem
Polish sestyna, sekstyna
  • sestynaA highly structured poem
  • sekstynaA highly structured poem
Portuguese sextina
  • sextinaA highly structured poem
Romanian sextină
  • sextinăA highly structured poem
Russian сексти́на
  • сексти́на (sekstína)A highly structured poem
Slovak sestína
  • sestínaA highly structured poem
Spanish sextina
  • sextinaA highly structured poem
Swedish sestin
  • sestinA highly structured poem

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

sestina. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sestina

MLA

“sestina.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sestina. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sestina,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sestina.

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