[It., = ‘third rime.’] An Italian form of iambic verse, consisting of sets of three lines, the middle line of each set rhyming with the first and last of the succeeding (a b a, b c b, c d c, etc.).
1819. Byron, Proph. Dante, Pref. The measure adopted is the terza rima of Dante.
1869. Tozer, Highl. Turkey, II. 252. Italian in Dante’s time rendered more manageable the intricacies of the terza rima.
