Cento (poetry)
A cento is a poetical work wholly composed of verses or passages taken from other authors, especially the Greek poet Homer and the Roman poet Virgil, disposed in a new form or order. == Etymology == The Latin term cento derives from Greek κέντρων (kentrōn), meaning "a piece of patch-work, rag." There is also the similar word Greek ἐγκεντρίζειν (enkentrizein), meaning "to plant slips (of trees)" (i.e., "to graft") and a later Greek word, κεντόνη (kentonē), that means "patchwork garment." According to Hugh Gerard Evelyn-White, "A cento is therefore a poem composed of odd fragments." == History == The cento originated in the 3rd or 4th century AD. The first known cento is the Medea by Hosidius Geta, composed out of Virgilian lines, according to Tertullian.