n. 1. A group of six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet. 2. A poem or stanza containing six lines. [Italian sestetto, from sesto, sixth, from Latin sextus; see s(w)eks in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.