ENGLISH
REFERENCE

verso

n. countable
C1 Advanced UK //vˈɜːsəʊ// ver·so

n. the left-hand page of a book or document. It is the page that faces the right-hand page, which is called the recto.

n. the left-hand page of a book or document, facing the recto. Often used in the context of bookbinding, typography, or manuscript studies to describe the physical orientation of a page.


SIMPLE

The artist signed the verso of the painting.

CONTEXTUAL

In many traditional books, the text is printed on the recto, while the verso remains blank for notes.

COMPLEX

The librarian noted that the marginalia were written on the verso of the folios, suggesting the owner had a habit of reading from right to left.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From Latin in versō foliō (“on the turned leaf, on the turned page”), the ablative case of the Latin versus (“turned, changed”) from the perfect passive participle of vertō (“turn”). Compare rēctus (“right”).

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