prose

来自古法语prose,故事，叙述，来自拉丁语prosa oratio,直白的叙述，没有诗意的话，来自

provorsus,直接向前转，来自pro-,向前，-vorse,转，词源同verse,versus.oratio,叙述，讲述，词源同orator.后用于指书写文体散文。

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.

他的散文文笔有力、内容庞杂，有时几近晦涩。

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

她的行文风格并非总是恰到好处，往往爱重复。

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

他花了几个小时讲述法国和英国的散文。

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

他笔下的公文矫揉浮华，长篇大论。

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

约翰·列侬抽时间出版了两本幽默散文。