/se stee"neuh/ , n. , pl. sestinas, sestine /-nay/ . Pros.
a poem of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy, originally without rhyme, in which each stanza repeats the end words of the lines of the first stanza, but in different order, the envoy using the six words again, three in the middle of the lines and three at the end. Also called sextain .
[ 1580-90; sest ( o ) ( sextus SIXTH) + -ina -INE 2 ]