strophe

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Latin stropha, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek στροφή (strophḗ, “a turn, bend, twist”). Compare strap and strop. Compare typologically rehearsal, rehearse (related to French herser (“to harrow”) << Latin hirpex, another meaning shift from the idea of turning).

1. A turn in verse, as from one metrical foot to another, or from one side of a chorus to the other.
2. The section of an ode that the chorus chants as it moves from right to left across the stage.
3. A pair of stanzas of alternating form on which the structure of a given poem is based.