Verse

Verse (from the Latin "versus"; turn of the plough (plow), a furrow, line, row, line of writing, etc. though Old High German, Old Norse etc. to Old English as "vers") has, or has had, various meanings:

As a noun:

1. A sequence of words arranged according to ... natural or recognised rules of prosody and forming a complete metrical line; each of the lines of a poem or piece of versification.

2. A small number of metrical lines in an anthem, usually sung by a soloist; or, in popular song or ballad, hymn etc. a distinct sequence of lines leading into the chorus or separating one chorus from another.

4. A metrical composition - a poem. ("Book of verse" = "book of poetry".)

5. A clause or sentence in a religious text e.g Creed.

6. Any of the numbered sections of the Bible or other scripture.

As a verb: To train or make skilful

As an adjective: "Versed" (usually well-versed) = skilled, familiar with, expert.

There are other definitions that are rare or archaic.

The above definitions are from "The Shorter Oxford Dictionary", 2007 Ed. Volume 2, pp 3519-20.