nursery rhymes, verses, generally brief and usually anonymous,
for children. The best-known examples are in English and date
mostly from the 17th cent. A popular type of rhyme is used in
"counting-out" games, e.g., "Eenie, meenie, minie, mo." The
subject matter of the rhymes has been linked by some scholars to
actual events in English political history. Most famous of
nursery rhymes is the Mother Goose collection. See Oxford
Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, ed. by I. and P. Opie (1952);
studies by L. Eckenstein (1906, repr. 1968) and H. Bett (1924,
repr. 1973). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights
reserved. More on nursery rhymes from Fact Monster: See more
Encyclopedia articles on: Literature: General