What does yode mean?
Yode is an uncommon English word connected with rhyme. As a noun, it can mean a rhyme or rhyming verse; as a verb, it means to rhyme or to make verses correspond in rhyme. Its best-known appearance is in the phrase “in yode,” meaning “in rhyme.” The word belongs mainly to older literary English and may suggest poetry, song, or traditional verse rather than casual modern speech. It can therefore be useful when discussing formal versification or the history of English poetic language, although its rarity makes it unsuitable for most everyday contexts. Although its sense is straightforward, yode has an old-fashioned sound that gives familiar ideas such as rhyme and meter a distinctly literary character. Its precise historical development and secure cognate set are not clear enough to state confidently, so they are intentionally omitted here.
A rhyme or rhyming verse, especially in archaic or poetic usage.
"Each verse in yode with the one before it."
Most common in older literary language and in the phrase “in yode.”
To rhyme or to make verses correspond in rhyme.
"The final lines yode with the opening lines of the stanza."
Archaic and literary; uncommon in modern usage.
The ordinary plural is yodes, but plural usage is uncommon because the noun is archaic and rarely used.
"The manuscript contained several yodes for the same refrain."
Remember the poet who went “in yode”: it is one of English's wonderfully old-fashioned ways of saying “in rhyme.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of yode
Yode is an English literary term for rhyme or rhyming verse, preserved through archaic and poetic usage. Its precise historical derivation and cognate relationships are not sufficiently secure to state without qualification, so no speculative account is offered here.
How yode is actually used
Yode is literary, archaic, and uncommon in ordinary modern English. It is encountered more often in dictionaries, older poetry, and the established phrase “in yode” than in contemporary speech.
Easily confused with yode
An ode is a poem or song devoted to a particular subject, whereas yode is an archaic word meaning rhyme or rhyming verse.