1. A writer of poems.
2. One who is especially gifted in the perception and expression of the beautiful or lyrical: "[the naturalist John Burroughs] was the bard of the bird feeder, the poet of the small and homey" (Bill McKibben).

[Middle English, from Old French poete, from Latin poēta, from Greek poiētēs, maker, composer, from poiein, to create.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.