stanza

Etymology

From Italian stanza, from Vulgar Latin *stantia (“standing, stopping-place”), from Latin stāns, stantis, from stō, stāre, from Proto-Italic *staēō, from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti, stative verb from *steh₂- (whence English stand). Doublet of stance.

noun

1. A unit of a poem, written or printed as a paragraph; equivalent to a verse.
2. (architecture) An apartment or division in a building.
3. (computing) An XML element which acts as basic unit of meaning in XMPP.
   Definition of XML Stanza: An XML stanza is the basic unit of meaning in XMPP. 2011, P. Saint-Andre, RFC 6120 - Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core
   Whenever an XMPP client generates an XML stanza, it typically constructs the XML of the stanza by building up a structured document […] 2009, Tim Riley, Adam Goucher, Beautiful Testing: Leading Professionals Reveal How They Improve Software
   Technically speaking, federation is the ability for two XMPP servers in different domains to exchange XML stanzas. 2009, John Rittinghouse, James F. Ransome, Cloud Computing: Implementation, Management, and Security
4. (broadcasting) A segment; a portion of a broadcast devoted to a particular topic.
   Actually NBC and other webs have used similar devices in the past, particularly during the war, when net used plattered segments for its news and documentary stanzas. As far as can be determined, however, this is the first post-war instance in which the net has allowed even a partial plattering of a regularly skedded commercial stanza. 1957-12-30, “NBC Breaks Wax Rule for Hope's Britain Shows”, in Billboard, volume 59, number 45, page 5
5. (sports) A period; an interval into which a sporting event is divided.
   The game's prime moment wasn't the decisive and popular eighth-inning, two-run homer by Mark Bellhorn, which ticked off the friendly Fenway right-field foul pole, but a sensational play by Boston's Manny Ramirez in the top of that same stanza. 2004-11-22, Roger Angell, “Long Voyage Home”, in The New Yorker, volume 80, number 36, page 50