different between prose vs prosaic

English

Etymology

Used in English since 1330, from French prose, from Latin pr?sa (“straightforward”) from the term pr?sa ?r?ti? (“a straightforward speech- i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). The term pr?sa (“straightforward”) is a colloquial form of prorsa (“straight forwards”) which is the feminine form of prorsus (“straight forwards”), from Old Latin pr?vorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), form of vert? (“I turn”). Compare verse.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p???z/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?o?z/
• Rhymes: -??z
• Homophone: pros

Noun

prose (usually uncountable, plural proses)

1. Language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry.

   Though known mostly for her prose, she also produced a small body of excellent poems.
2. Language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.
3. (Roman Catholicism) A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass.

Antonyms

• poetry, verse

Derived terms

• prose poem
• prosewise
• purple prose

Related terms

• prosaic
• prosody

Translations

Verb

prose (third-person singular simple present proses, present participle prosing, simple past and past participle prosed)

1. To write or repeat in a dull, tedious, or prosy way.
   • 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, Act I, Scene II, verses 189-190

     Pray, do not prose, good Ethelbert, but speak;

     What is your purpose?

References

• prose in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• OPers., Peros, Perso-, S'pore, Soper, Spero, opers, pores, poser, preso, reops, repos, ropes, soper, spore

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?pros?]
• Rhymes: -?s?

Noun

prose

1. locative singular of proso

Verb

prose

1. masculine singular present transgressive of prosit

Related terms

• prosíc
• poprosiv
• prosící

French

Etymology

From Latin pr?sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?oz/
• Homophone: proses

Noun

prose f (plural proses)

1. prose

Derived terms

• faire de la prose sans le savoir
• prosateur
• proser

Verb

prose

1. inflection of proser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “prose” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• perso, pores, poser, repos

Italian

Noun

prose f

1. plural of prosa

Anagrams

• perso, porse, preso, spero, sperò, spore

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *pors?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pr?s?/, [?pr?s?]

Noun

prose n (genitive prose?a, dual prose?i, plural proseta)

1. piglet

Declension

Further reading

• prose in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• prose in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

English

Etymology

From Middle French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus (“in prose”), from Latin prosa (“prose”), from prorsus (“straightforward, in prose”), from Old Latin provorsus (“straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), from vert? (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p????ze?.?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /p?o??ze?.?k/
• Rhymes: -e??k

Adjective

prosaic (comparative more prosaic, superlative most prosaic)

1. Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.

   Antonym: poetic

2. (of writing or speaking) Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.

3. (main usage, usually of writing or speaking but also figurative) Overly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.

   Synonyms: humdrum, dull, unimaginative; see also Thesaurus:boring

   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 6:

     Their steepness and abruptness were even greater than I had imagined from hearsay, and suggested nothing in common with the prosaic objective world we know.

Related terms

• prosaically
• prosaicness
• prose

Translations

Anagrams

• Caprios, ipocras, picaros