poem

See also: Poem, poëm, and põem

English

Alternative forms

• poëm, poeme (rare or archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French poème, from Latin poēma, from Ancient Greek ποίημα (poíēma), from ποιέω (poiéō, “I make”). Displaced native Old English lēoþ.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpəʊɪm/, [ˈpʰəwɪm], /ˈpəʊəm/, (uncommon) /ˈpɔː.ɪm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊəm/, /poʊm/, [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)əm], [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)m̩], [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)m]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔʊ(ə)m/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊɪm/, [ˈpo(ʊ̯)ɪm]
• (Malaysia, Scotland) IPA^(key): /pojəm/
• (Ghana) IPA^(key): /pɔɪm/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpoːɪm/, /poː(ə)m/, /-ɛm/
• Rhymes: -əʊɪm, -əʊəm, -əʊɛm, -ɔːɪm, -əʊm

Noun

poem (plural poems)

1. A literary piece written in verse.
   • 2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

     Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.

2. A piece of writing in the tradition of poetry, an instance of poetry.
3. A piece of poetic writing, that is with an intensity or depth of expression or inspiration greater than is usual in prose.

Holonyms

• poetry

Derived terms

• altar poem
• blackout poem
• concrete poem
• diamante poem
• diamond poem
• echo poem
• erasure poem
• figure poem
• micropoem
• prose poem
• rune poem
• shape poem
• slam poem
• story-poem
• symphonic poem
• tone poem
• ur-poem
• visual poem

Related terms

• poet
• poetic
• poetics
• poetry

Translations

literary piece written in verse

• Afrikaans: gedig (af) n, vers
• Albanian: vjershë (sq) f, poemë (sq) f
• Amharic: ግጥም (gəṭm)
• Arabic: قَصِيدَة f (qaṣīda), شِعْر (ar) m (šiʕr), نَظْم m (naẓm)

  Hijazi Arabic: قَصيدة f (gaṣīda), شِعِر m (šiʕir)

• Armenian: բանաստեղծություն (hy) (banasteġcutʻyun), ոտանավոր (hy) (otanavor) (short), պոեմ (hy) (poem) (large), տաղ (hy) (taġ)
• Assamese: কবিতা (kobita)
• Asturian: poema m, poesía f
• Azerbaijani: şeir, poema
• Bashkir: шиғыр (şiğır)
• Basque: poema (eu)
• Belarusian: верш (be) m (vjerš), паэ́ма f (paéma)
• Bengali: কবিতা (bn) (kobita), পদ্য (bn) (poddo)
• Bikol Central: rawit-dawit
• Bulgarian: стихотворе́ние (bg) n (stihotvorénie), пое́ма (bg) f (poéma)
• Burmese: ကဗျာ (my) (ka.bya)
• Catalan: poema (ca) m, poesia (ca) f, oda (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 詩 / 诗 (si¹)

  Dungan: чонсы (čonsɨ), сывын (sɨvɨn)

  Mandarin: 詩 / 诗 (zh) (shī), 詩篇 / 诗篇 (zh) (shīpiān), 詩歌 / 诗歌 (zh) (shīgē)

• Cornish: kan f
• Czech: báseň (cs) f
• Danish: digt (da) n
• Dutch: gedicht (nl) n, vers (nl) n
• Estonian: luuletus, värss, poeem
• Farefare: dakɩrɛ
• Faroese: kvæði n, ljóð n
• Finnish: runo (fi)
• French: poème (fr) m
• Galician: poema (gl) m, poesía (gl) f
• Georgian: ლექსი (leksi), პოემა (ṗoema), შაირი (šairi)
• German: Gedicht (de) n, Poem (de) n
• Greek: ποίημα (el) n (poíima)

  Ancient: ποίημα n (poíēma)

• Guaraní: ñe'ẽpoty (gn)
• Hebrew: שִׁיר (he) m (shir)
• Hindi: कविता (hi) f (kavitā), पद्य (hi) m (padya), काव्य (hi) m (kāvya)
• Hungarian: vers (hu)
• Icelandic: ljóð (is) n, kvæði (is) n, dikt n, vers n
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Ilocano: daniw
• Indonesian: syair (id)
• Ingrian: vers, stiha
• Irish: dán (ga) m
• Italian: poema (it) m, poesia (it) f
• Japanese: 詩 (ja) (し, shi), 詩歌 (ja) (しいか, shiika)
• Kazakh: өлең (kk) (öleñ), поэма (poéma), дастан (kk) (dastan)
• Khmer: កំណាព្យ (km) (kɑmnaap)
• Kikuyu: irebeta class 5
• Korean: 시(詩) (ko) (si), 시가(詩歌) (ko) (siga)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: helbest (ku)

• Kyrgyz: ыр (ky) (ır), казал (ky) (kazal), поэма (poema), өлөң (ky) (ölöŋ)
• Lao: ກາບກອນ (lo) (kāp kǭn), ກອນ (kǭn), ຄຳກອນ (kham kǭn), ກະວີນິພົນ (ka wī ni phon)
• Latin: carmen (la) n, poema n
• Latvian: dzejolis m, poēma f
• Lithuanian: eilėraštis m, poema (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Gedicht
• Macedonian: песна (mk) f (pesna)
• Malay: puisi (ms), syair (ms)
• Malayalam: കവിത (ml) (kavita)
• Maltese: poeżija f
• Manchu: ᡳᡵᡤᡝᠪᡠᠨ (irgebun)
• Marathi: कविता (mr) f (kavitā), काव्य n (kāvya)
• Middle Persian: cagāmag
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: шүлэг (mn) (šüleg)

  Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠯᠦᠭ (silüg)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dikt (no) n, episk dikt n

• Occitan: poèma (oc)
• Old English: lēoþ n
• Old Norse: kvæði n, ljóð n, dikt n, skáldskapr m
• Pashto: شعر (ps) m (še'r)
• Persian:

  Dari: شِعْر (ši'r), چَامَه (čāma), نَظْم (nazm)

  Iranian Persian: شِعْر (še'r), چامِه (čâme), نَظْم (nazm)

• Plautdietsch: Jedicht n
• Polish: wiersz (pl) m, poemat (pl) m
• Portuguese: poema (pt) m, poesia (pt) f
• Quechua: harawi
• Romanian: poem (ro)
• Russian: стихотворе́ние (ru) n (stixotvorénije) (plural: стихи́ (ru) m pl (stixí)), стих (ru) m (stix), поэ́ма (ru) f (poéma) (larger poem)
• Sanskrit: काव्य (sa) n (kāvya), कविता (sa) f (kavitā)
• Scottish Gaelic: dàn m, duan m, òran m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: спе̑в m, спје̑в m, пое́ма f, пе̏сма f, пје̏сма f, стѝхови m pl

  Roman: spȇv m, spjȇv (sh) m, poéma (sh) f, pȅsma (sh) f, pjȅsma (sh) f, stìhovi (sh) m pl

• Sinhalese: කවිය (kawiya)
• Slovak: báseň f
• Slovene: pesem (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: baseń f

• Spanish: poema (es) m, poesía (es) f, oda (es) f
• Swahili: shairi (sw)
• Swedish: dikt (sv) c, poem (sv) n, skaldverk n
• Tagalog: tula
• Tajik: шеър (tg) (še'r), назм (nazm)
• Tamil: கவிதை (ta) (kavitai)
• Tarifit: izri m
• Tatar: шигырь (tt) (şigır’), дастан (tt) (dastan)
• Telugu: పద్యము (te) (padyamu), కవిత (te) (kavita)
• Thai: กลอน (th) (glɔɔn), บทกวี (bòt-gà-wii)
• Tibetan: སྙན་ངག (snyan ngag)
• Turkish: nazım (tr), şiir (tr), manzume (tr), koşuk (tr)
• Turkmen: şygyr, gosgy, poema
• Ukrainian: вірш (uk) m (virš), пое́ма (uk) f (poéma)
• Urdu: نَظْم f (nazm), شاعِرِی f (śā'irī), شِعْر (ur) m (śi'r)
• Uyghur: شېئىر (ug) (shë'ir), داستان (dastan)
• Uzbek: sheʻr, poema (uz), doston (uz)
• Vietnamese: bài thơ (vi), thơ (vi)
• Volapük: poedot (vo), (love) lelöfapoedot
• Walloon: powinme (wa) m, powezeye (wa) f, arimé (wa) m
• Welsh: cerdd (cy) f
• Yiddish: פּאָעמע f (poeme), פּאָעם m (poem), געדיכט n (gedikht)
• Zhuang: sei

piece of writing in the tradition of poetry

• Afrikaans: gedig (af)
• Azerbaijani: şeir
• Bashkir: шиғыр (şiğır)
• Bikol Central: rawit-dawit
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詩篇 / 诗篇 (zh) (shīpiān)

• Czech: báseň (cs) f
• Danish: digt (da) n
• Dutch: gedicht (nl) n
• Esperanto: poemo
• Faroese: kvæði n, ljóð n
• Finnish: runo (fi)
• French: poème (fr) m
• German: Dichtung (de) f
• Greek: ποίημα (el) n (poíima)

  Ancient: ποίημα n (poíēma)

• Hindi: कविता (hi) f (kavitā)
• Icelandic: ljóð (is) n, kvæði (is) n, dikt n
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Indonesian: pantun (id)
• Ingrian: vers
• Italian: poema (it) m, poesia (it) f
• Japanese: 詩 (ja) (し, shi)
• Khmer: កំណាព្យ (km) (kɑmnaap)
• Korean: 시(詩) (ko) (si)
• Latin: fabula (la)
• Maltese: poeżija f
• Marathi: कविता (mr) f (kavitā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dikt (no) n

• Old Norse: kvæði n, ljóð n, dikt n
• Polish: poezja (pl) f, wiersz (pl) f
• Portuguese: poema (pt) m, poesia (pt) f
• Russian: стихотворе́ние (ru) n (stixotvorénije) (plural: стихи́ (ru) m pl (stixí)), стих (ru) m (stix), поэ́ма (ru) f (poéma) (larger poem)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: стихотво́рство n, пе̏снӣштво n, пје̏снӣштво n, стѝхови m pl, пое́ма f, пе̏сма f, пје̏сма f

  Roman: stihotvórstvo (sh) n, pȅsnīštvo (sh) n, pjȅsnīštvo (sh) n, stìhovi (sh) m pl, poéma (sh) f, pȅsma (sh) f, pjȅsma (sh) f

• Slovene: pesem (sl) f, poezija f
• Spanish: poema (es) m
• Swahili: shairi (sw)
• Swedish: dikt (sv) c, poem (sv) n
• Tamil: கவிதை (ta) (kavitai)
• Telugu: పద్యం (te) (padyaṁ), కవిత (te) (kavita)
• Turkish: şiir (tr)
• Ukrainian: пое́ма (uk) f (poéma), вірш (uk) m (virš)
• Vietnamese: bài thơ (vi)

piece of poetic writing

• Afrikaans: gedig (af)
• Albanian: poemë (sq) f
• Azerbaijani: şeir
• Bashkir: шиғыр (şiğır)
• Bikol Central: rawit-dawit
• Czech: báseň (cs) f
• Danish: digt (da) n
• Dutch: gedicht (nl) n
• Finnish: runo (fi)
• French: poème (fr) m
• German: Gedicht (de) n
• Greek: ποίημα (el) n (poíima), ποίηση (el) f (poíisi)
• Hindi: कविता (hi) f (kavitā)
• Hungarian: költemény (hu)
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Indonesian: puisi (id)
• Ingrian: vers
• Italian: poema (it) m, poesia (it) f
• Japanese: 詩的表現 (shiteki hyōgen)
• Javanese: geguritan
• Latin: fabula (la)
• Marathi: कविता (mr) f (kavitā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dikt (no) n

• Polish: poemat (pl) m, wiersz (pl) m
• Portuguese: poema (pt) m, poesia (pt) f
• Russian: стихотворе́ние (ru) n (stixotvorénije) (plural: стихи́ (ru) m pl (stixí)), стих (ru) m (stix), поэ́ма (ru) f (poéma) (larger poem)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: стихотворина m pl, пое́ма f, песма f, стѝхови m pl

  Roman: stihotvorina m pl, poéma (sh) f, pesma (sh) f, stìhovi (sh) m pl

• Slovene: pesem (sl) f, poezija f
• Spanish: poema (es) m
• Swahili: ushairi (sw)
• Swedish: dikt (sv) c, poem (sv) n
• Tamil: கவிதை (ta) (kavitai)
• Telugu: పద్యం (te) (padyaṁ), కవిత (te) (kavita)
• Thai: กลอน (th) (glɔɔn)
• Turkish: şiir (tr)
• Ukrainian: пое́ма (uk) f (poéma), вірш (uk) m (virš)
• Vietnamese: bài thơ (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} poemë (sq)
• Azerbaijani: ^{(please verify)} poema
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} poemo
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} luuletus
• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ლექსი (leksi)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} puisi (id)
• Latvian: ^{(please verify)} poēma
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} eilėraštis
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} poezie (ro)
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} báseň
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} caniad
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} ליד n (lid)

Further reading

• “poem”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “poem”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “poem”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• mope, pome

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French poème or German Poem.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

poem n (plural poeme)

1. poem

Declension

Declension of poem

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	poem	poemul		poeme	poemele
genitive-dative	poem	poemului		poeme	poemelor
vocative	poemule			poemelor

Further reading

• “poem”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Scots

Etymology

From Middle French poème, from Latin poēma, from Ancient Greek ποίημα (poíēma), from ποιέω (poiéō, “I make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pom], [poəm]

Noun

poem (plural poems)

1. poem
   • 1985, John J. Graham, "E Wir ain aald language. Writin ida Shetland dialect", in Manfred Görlach, Focus on Scotland, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 193.

     Hit wisna till weel trowe da nineteent century at Shetlanders tried der haand at writin ida dialect — maistly poems, wi a antrin story noo an dan.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1991, Chapman, numbers 67-70, page 36:

     And Hugh MacDiarmid was and is A Brawli Makar, for as siccan folk hand tae 't as thrugaun as a poem itsel, he daes, an daes he no.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2000, Chapman, numbers 95-97, page 64:

     The pseudonym TSL first thocht on uisin stertin oot ti publish his wark wis Thrawn, an he uised this for whit we think micht be his first published poem in a Sooth African paper at haes (for nou) hidden itsel ower again amang the files.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle French poème, from Latin poēma, from Ancient Greek ποίημα (poíēma), from ποιέω (poiéō, “I make”).

Noun

poem n

1. a (shorter) poem

   Synonym: (more common) dikt

Declension

Declension of poem

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	poem	poems
	definite	poemet	poemets
plural	indefinite	poem	poems
	definite	poemen	poemens

Related terms

• poesi
• poet
• poetisk

References

• poem in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• poem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• poem in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Vilamovian

Noun

poem n

1. poem