Verse or versus?
verse is a noun meaning “A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme”; versus is a preposition meaning “Against; in opposition to”. Use verse as a noun and versus as a preposition. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) versus is about as common as verse.
What is the difference between verse and versus?
| verse | versus | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, suffix | preposition, verb |
| Meaning | A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme Poetic form in general To tell in verse, or poetry | Against; in opposition to Compared with, as opposed to To face in competition |
| Example | Restoration literature is well known for its carefully constructed verse | It is the Packers versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl |
| Forms | verses 'verses | versuses, versusing, versused |
| Pronunciation | /vɜːs/ /ˈvɝs/ /ˈvɜːs/ | /ˈvɜːsəs/ /ˈvɜːsɪz/ /ˈvɝsəs/ |
| In writing | 15 times per million words | 21 times per million words |
Sources: verse and versus in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of verse and versus
verse
- 1
A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme
Restoration literature is well known for its carefully constructed verse
- 2
To tell in verse, or poetry
- 3
colloquialproscribedTo oppose, to compete against
- 4
slangThe (fictional) universe in which the TV series Firefly is set
- 5
Forming compound nouns denoting the whole range or totality of what is indicated by the first element
- 6
Poetic form in general
The restrictions of verse have steadily been relaxed over time
- 7
to educate about, to teach about
He versed us in the finer points of category theory
- 8
Clipping of universe
versus
- 1
Against; in opposition to
It is the Packers versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl
- 2
To face in competition
- 3
Compared with, as opposed to
- 4
To fight
- 5
Bringing a legal action against, as used in the title of a court case in which the first party indicates the plaintiff (or appellant or the like), and the second indicates the defendant (or…
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans
- 6
Interacting with, especially to record reactions
- 7
Mashed up with
Kiss Me Thru The Phone vs. Last Friday Night
- 8
Indicating one group or artist remixing another
The Auteurs vs. μ-Ziq
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, verse or versus?
verse appears 15 times per million words; versus 21 times per million words.
verse 15 times per million wordsversus 21 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search verse vs versus?
“verse vs versus” is searched about 1,000 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“versus vs verse”, “verse or versus”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.