poem

See also: 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): /ˈpəʊ̯ɪm/, [ˈpʰəʊ̯ɪm]

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊ̯əm/, /poʊ̯m/, [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)əm], [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)m̩], [ˈpʰo(ʊ̯)m]
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊ̯ɪm/, [ˈpo(ʊ̯)ɪm]
• (Malaysia, Scotland) IPA^(key): /pojəm/
• Rhymes: -əʊəm, -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

Terms derived from poem

• echo poem
• prose poem
• shape 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)

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

• Armenian: բանաստեղծություն (hy) (banastełcutʿyun), ոտանավոր (hy) (otanavor) (short), պոեմ (hy) (poem) (large), տաղ (hy) (tał)
• Assamese: কবিতা (kobita)
• Asturian: poema m, poesía f
• Azerbaijani: şeir, poema
• Bashkir: шиғыр (şiğır)
• Belarusian: верш (be) m (vjerš), паэ́ма f (paéma)
• Bengali: কবিতা (bn) (kobita), পদ্য (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
• 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)
• Hungarian: vers (hu)
• Icelandic: ljóð (is) n, kvæði (is) n, dikt n, vers n
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Ilocano: daniw
• Indonesian: syair (id)
• 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: fabula (la), carmen (la) n
• Latvian: dzejolis m, poēma f
• Lithuanian: eilėraštis m, poema (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Gedicht
• Macedonian: песна f (pesna)
• Malay: puisi, syair
• 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)

• 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: شعر‎ (fa) (še'r), چامه‎ (fa) (čâme)
• 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) (šeʾr)
• 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 m (virš), пое́ма f (poéma)
• Urdu: نظم‎ f (nazam), شاعری‎ (šā'aerī)
• Uyghur: شېئىر‎ (ug) (shë'ir), داستان‎ (dastan)
• Uzbek: sheʻr, poema (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)

• Icelandic: ljóð (is) n, kvæði (is) n, dikt n
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Indonesian: pantun (id)
• 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
• 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)
• 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)
• Hungarian: költemény (hu)
• Ido: poemo (io)
• Indonesian: puisi (id)
• Italian: poema (it) m, poesia (it) f
• Japanese: 詩的表現 (shiteki hyōgen)
• Javanese: geguritan
• Latin: fabula (la)
• 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)
• 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.
• “poem”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• poem at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• mope, pome

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French poème or German Poem.

Noun

poem n (plural poeme)

1. poem

Declension

Declension of poem

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) poem	poemul	(niște) poeme	poemele
genitive/dative	(unui) poem	poemului	(unor) poeme	poemelor
vocative	poemule		poemelor

Further reading

• poem in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

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.

   • 1991, Chapman, number 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 quote)

   • 2000, Chapman, number 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 quote)

Swedish

Etymology

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

Noun

poem n

1. poem

Declension

Declension of poem
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	poem	poemet	poem	poemen
Genitive	poems	poemets	poems	poemens

Vilamovian

Noun

poem n

1. poem