haikai

[ hahy-kahy ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Prosody.

, plural hai·kai

an informal type of linked verse originated by Bashō, a 17th-century Japanese poet.
a poem of this type.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of haikai¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Japanese haikai (no renga) “jesting (linked verse),” from hai “actor” (akin to Cantonese paai, Korean bae, Mandarin pái ) + kai “harmony” (akin to Cantonese haai, Korean hae, Mandarin xié )

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Example Sentences

The very word poetry (or haikai) came in his mouth to stand for morality.

From Project Gutenberg

The most attenuated form of all is the hokku (or haikai) which consists of only three lines, namely, 17 syllables.

From Project Gutenberg

After a while the same practice was applied to comic poetry, thus producing the so-called haikai-no-renga, or comic linked verses.

From Project Gutenberg

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