prose

• n. 散文；單調
• adj. 散文的；平凡的；乏味的
• vi. 寫散文；乏味地講話
• vt. 把…寫成散文

來自古法語prose,故事，敘述，來自拉丁語prosa oratio,直白的敘述，沒有詩意的話，來自

provorsus,直接向前轉，來自pro-,向前，-vorse,轉，詞源同verse,versus.oratio,敘述，講述，詞源同orator.後用於指書寫文體散文。

prose

prose: [14] Prose is etymologically ‘straightforward discourse’ (as opposed to the more sophisticated discourse of poetry). The term comes via Old French prose from Latin prōsa, which was short for prōsa ōrātiō ‘straightforward discourse’. Prōsus ‘straightforward, direct’ was a contraction of an earlier prōversus, the past participle of prōvertere ‘turn forward’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forward’ and vertere ‘turn’ (source of English verse, version, etc).
=> verse, version

prose (n.)

c. 1300, "story, narration," from Old French prose (13c.), from Latin prosa oratio "straightforward or direct speech" (without the ornaments of verse), from prosa, fem. of prosus, earlier prorsus "straightforward, direct," from Old Latin provorsus "(moving) straight ahead," from pro- "forward" (see pro-) + vorsus "turned," past participle of vertere "to turn" (see verse).

"Good prose, to say nothing of the original thoughts it conveys, may be infinitely varied in modulation. It is only an extension of metres, an amplification of harmonies, of which even the best and most varied poetry admits but few." [Walter Savage Landor, "Imaginary Conversations"]

Meaning "prose writing; non-poetry" is from mid-14c. The sense of "dull or commonplace expression" is from 1680s, out of earlier sense "plain expression" (1560s). Those who lament the want of an English agent noun to correspond to poet might try prosaist (1776), proser (1620s), or Frenchified prosateur (1880), though the first two in their day also acquired in English the secondary sense "dull writer."

1. His prose is vigorous and dense, occasionally to the point of obscurity.

他的散文文筆有力、內容龐雜，有時幾近晦澀。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Her prose style is not always felicitous; she tends to repetition.

她的行文風格並非總是恰到好處，往往愛重複。

來自柯林斯例句

3. He discoursed for several hours on French and English prose.

他花了幾個小時講述法國和英國的散文。

來自柯林斯例句

4. The prose of his official communications was so laboured, pompous and verbose.

他筆下的公文矯揉浮華，長篇大論。

來自柯林斯例句

5. John Lennon found time to publish two books of his humorous prose.

約翰·列儂抽時間出版了兩本幽默散文。

來自柯林斯例句