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haiku

 [hahy-koo]   Example Sentences Origin

hai·ku

   [hahy-koo]
noun, plural -ku for 2.
1.
a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.
2.
a poem written in this form.
Origin:
1895–1900; < Japanese, equivalent to hai(kai) haikai + ku stanza; see hokku
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Haiku is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Example Sentences
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Collins
World English Dictionary
haiku or hokku (ˈhaɪkuː)
 
—n , pl -ku
an epigrammatic Japanese verse form in 17 syllables
 
[from Japanese, from hai amusement + ku verse]
 
hokku or hokku
 
—n
 
[from Japanese, from hai amusement + ku verse]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

haiku
1899, from Japanese, where it is singular of haikai, in haikai no renga "jesting linked-verse;" originally a succession of haiku linked together into one poem. The form developed mid-16c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
haiku [(heye-kooh)]

A form of Japanese poetry. A haiku expresses a single feeling or impression and contains three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, respectively.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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