The word quatrain is derived from the French quatre which is a number meaning four and from the Latin word quattuour. Records exist about the use of the quatrain as early as the sixteenth century appearing in the poems of ancient Rome, Greece and other ancient civilizations. In the Middle Eastern regions, the quatrains were better known as Rubaai and was largely patronized by poets such as Omar Khayyam who made this form quite popular. The quatrain as a form of poetry continues to be used even in the twentieth century in various languages.