Ghazal
/ˈɡʌ.zæl/noun
A lyric poem, usually in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, or related traditions, made of autonomous couplets linked by rhyme and refrain.
Did you know?In Arabic, the same root behind ghazal is also connected to gazelle imagery, which helped make the form feel like a graceful chase between lover and beloved.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
PSem
*ġazal-
“A root connected with talking to women, amorous speech, or courtship in some scholarly reconstructions.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
غَزَل (ġazal)
“Love talk, flirtation, amorous speech; also the spinning of thread in related usage and later poetic love lyric.”
Persian
Persian
غزل (ghazal)
“A lyric poem, especially a short poem of love, longing, or mystical desire.”
13th Century
Arabic/Persian literary tradition
ghazal
“A fixed poetic form of rhyming couplets with a refrain, developed and refined in Persian and other literatures.”
Modern English
English
ghazal
“A lyric poem in the Arabic and Persian tradition, especially one of love or mystical longing.”