leonine verses
Preserved but no longer current.
Latin hexameters, or alternate hexameters and pentameters, rhyming at the middle and end of each respective line. These fancies were common in the 12th century, and are said to have been popularized by and so called from Leoninus, a canon of the church of St. Victor, in Paris; but there are many such lines in the classic poets, particu- larly Ovid. In English verse, any metre which rhymes middle and end may be called Leonine verse.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “leonine verses” mean?
Latin hexameters, or alternate hexameters and pentameters, rhyming at the middle and end of each respective line. These fancies were common in the 12th century, and are said to have been popularized by and so called from Leoninus, a canon of the church of St. Victor, in Paris; but there are many such lines in the classic poets, particu- larly Ovid. In English verse, any metre which rhymes middle and end may be called Leonine verse.
Is “leonine verses” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.