| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| prose |
| |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  pr z |
| NOUN: | 1. Ordinary speech or writing, without metrical structure. 2. Commonplace expression or quality. 3. Roman Catholic Church A hymn of irregular meter sung before the Gospel. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: prosed, pros·ing, pros·es
1. To write prose. 2. To speak or write in a dull, tiresome style. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prsa (r ti), straightforward (discourse), feminine of prsus, alteration of prrsus, from prversus, past participle of prvertere, to turn forward : pr-, forward; see pro–1 + vertere, to turn; see wer-2 in Appendix I.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
