Definition of: sonnet

(son′it) noun
1. A poem of fourteen decasyllabic or (rarely) octosyllabic lines, originally composed of an octave and a sestet, properly expressing two successive phases of a single thought or sentiment. In the Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet the rime scheme for the octave is abbaabba, followed by two or three other rimes in the sestet, with a slight change in thought after the octave. In the Elizabethan, or Shakespearean, sonnet the rime scheme is ababcdcdefefgg.
2. A short poem; an amatory lyric. See synonyms under SONG.
—v.t. To celebrate in sonnets.
—v.i. To compose sonnets. [<F <Ital. sonnetto <Provençal sonet, dim. of son a sound <Lsonus]