muwashshah
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic مُوَشَّح (muwaššaḥ, “girdled”) (plural مُوَشَّحَات (muwaššaḥāt) or تَوَاشِيح (tawāšīḥ)).
Noun
muwashshah (plural muwashshahat or tawashih or muwashshahs)
- An Arabic ode, a multi-lined strophic verse poem, generally of five stanzas alternating with a refrain.
- An Arabic song which uses a (frequently secular) text written in this verse as its lyrics.
Usage notes
- The plural muwashshahat, formed according to Arabic rules, is the plural form most commonly encountered in English texts.
- The plural muwashshahs, formed according to English rules, is the second most common.
- The plural tawashih, also formed according to Arabic rules, is rarely encountered.
Quotations
- 2006, María Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin, Michael Sells, The Literature of Al-Andalus, page 175:
- The last two composed several hundred religious muwashshahs each, […]
- 2009, Joseph Yahalom, Yehuda Halevi: poetry and pilgrimage, page 36:
- PROFANE GAMES IN HEBREW MUWASHSHAHAT