Ku
/kuː/noun
A Japanese poetic verse or stanza, especially one forming part of a linked-verse composition.
Did you know?In Japanese literary tradition, ku became a technical term for a poetic unit and survives in compounds such as haiku and renku.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
句
“A phrase, sentence, or line of verse”
Classical Chinese
Chinese
jù
“A phrase or poetic line”
Early Japanese
Japanese
ku (句)
“A phrase, verse, or poetic unit adopted from Chinese literary terminology”
Medieval Japan
Japanese
ku
“A stanza or verse used in linked-verse poetry”
Modern English
English
ku
“A Japanese poetic verse or stanza, used as a specialized literary loanword”