Petrarchan sonnet: Meaning and Definition of

Petrar'chan son'net

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a sonnet form popularized by Petrarch, consisting of an octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and of a sestet with one of several rhyme schemes, as cdecde or cdcdcd. Also called
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.