Home › Glossary › Letter L

Laisse

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A stanza or narrative unit in medieval French epic poetry, often of variable length and unified by assonance or theme.

Detailed Definition
Laisse is a stanzaic unit in Old French epic poetry (e.g., chansons de geste), consisting of variable-length assonanced or rhymed lines that group narrative episodes; each laisse advances the plot through rhythmic repetition and oral-formulaic diction, serving as a building block in sprawling heroic tales like “The Song of Roland.”
Example
Example in poetry:
A laisse from “The Song of Roland”: “Charles the king, our emperor bold, / Has been seven full years in Spain”; Each laisse in chansons de geste is a narrative stanza of variable length; In “Huon of Bordeaux,” laisses build episodic adventure; Laisse structure aids oral recitation through formulaic repetition; Modern adaptations use laisse-like blocks for epic pacing
Additional Notes
Verse paragraph or stanza in Old French epic poetry (chansons de geste). Uses assonance rather than rhyme. Related to tirade and epic stanza. Study tip: Each laisse typically advances narrative action significantly.
Also Known As
epic stanza medieval verse paragraph
Skip to main content