prose

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

prose, n. [F. prose, L. prosa, fr. prorsus, prosus, straight forward, straight on, for proversus; pro forward + versus, p. p. of vertere to turn. See Verse.].

•  The ordinary language of men in speaking or writing; language not cast in poetical measure or rhythm; -- contradistinguished from verse, or metrical composition.  [1913 Webster]

  "I speak in prose, and let him rymes make."  [1913 Webster]

  "Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme."  [1913 Webster]

  "I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry, that is; prose -- words in their best order; poetry -- the best order."  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.  [1913 Webster]
•  A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass. See Sequence.  [1913 Webster]

prose, a. 

•  Pertaining to, or composed of, prose; not in verse; as, prose composition.  [1913 Webster]
•  Possessing or exhibiting unpoetical characteristics; plain; dull; prosaic; as, the prose duties of life.  [1913 Webster]

prose, v. t. 

•  To write in prose.  [1913 Webster]
•  To write or repeat in a dull, tedious, or prosy way.  [1913 Webster]

prose, v. i. 

 To write prose.  [1913 Webster]
"Prosing or versing, but chiefly this latter."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

prose, n. & v.
--n.
1 the ordinary form of the written or spoken language (opp. POETRY, VERSE) (Milton's prose works).
2 a passage of prose, esp. for translation into a foreign language.
3 a tedious speech or conversation.
4 a plain matter-of-fact quality (the prose of existence).
5 Eccl. = SEQUENCE 8.
--v.
1 intr. (usu. foll. by about, away, etc.) talk tediously (was prosing away about his dog).
2 tr. turn (a poem etc.) into prose.

Idiom

prose idyll a short description in prose of a picturesque, esp. rustic, incident, character, etc. prose poem (or poetry) a piece of imaginative poetic writing in prose.

Derivative

proser n.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L prosa (oratio) straightforward (discourse), fem. of prosus, earlier prorsus direct

THESAURUS

prose

banality, bromide, causerie, chat, chestnut, chin, cliche, commonplace, commonplace expression, corn, expository writing, familiar tune, hackneyed saying, in prose, language, lieu commun, locus communis, matter of fact, matter-of-fact, matter-of-factness, nonmetrical, nonpoetic, old joke, old saw, old song, old story, plain, plainness, platitude, platitudinize, prosaic, prosaicism, prosaicness, prosaism, prosiness, prosing, prosy, rap, reiteration, retold story, stereotyped saying, talk, text, trite saying, triticism, twice-told tale, unimaginative, unimaginativeness, unimpassioned, unversified, write prose, yarn

ROGET THESAURUS

prose

Diffuseness

VB be diffuse, run out on, descant, expatiate, enlarge, dilate, amplify, expand, inflate, launch out, branch out, rant, maunder, prose, harp upon, dwell on, insist upon, digress, ramble, battre la campagne, beat about the bush, perorate, spin a long yarn, protract, spin out, swell out, draw out, battologize.

Loquacity

VB be loquacious, talk glibly, pour forth, patter, prate, palaver, prose, chatter, prattle, clack, jabber, jaw, blather, blatter, blether, rattle, rattle on, twaddle, twattle, babble, gabble, outtalk, talk oneself out of breath, talk oneself hoarse, expatiate, gossip, din in the ears, talk at random, talk nonsense, be hoarse with talking.

Prose

N prose, prose writer, prosaicism, prosaism, prosaist, proser, prosal, prosy, prosaic, unpoetic, unpoetical, rhymeless, unrhymed, in prose, not in verse.

VB prose, write prose, write in prose.

Dullness

N dullness, heaviness, flatness, infestivity &c, stupidity want of originality, dearth of ideas, prose, matter of fact, heavy book, conte a dormir debout, platitude, dull, dull as ditch water, unentertaining, uninteresting, flat, dry as dust, unfunny, unlively, logy, unimaginative, insulse, dry as dust, prosy, prosing, prosaic, matter of fact, commonplace, pedestrian, pointless, weary stale flat and unprofitable, stupid, slow, flat, insipid, vapid, humdrum, monotonous, melancholic, stolid plodding, boring, tiresome, tedious, davus sum non Aedipus, deadly dull and boring, DDB.

VB be dull, prose, take au serieux, be caught napping, render dull, damp, depress, throw cold water on, lay a wet blanket on, fall flat upon the ear, no joke, serious matter (importance).