polysyllable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús

Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor.

English poly-

English syllable

English polysyllable

From poly- + syllable.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

polysyllable (plural polysyllables)

1. A word with more than two syllables. Sometimes used in a more restricted sense.
   • 1982, Donald Hall, To Read Poetry‎^[1], page 83:

     For instance, words can differ in length, and we can rhyme a monosyllable with a polysyllable, like tracks with haversacks.

   • 1992, Samuel Elmo Martin, Reference Grammar of Korean:

     In the Phyengan dialect, wuy developed into wi but at the end of a polysyllable it often dropped the -y to become wu (ibid): Tang-nakwu = Tang-nakwi 'donkey'

   • 1998, Albert Joseph, Put It In Writing‎^[2], page 81:

     The third syllable of provided is ed, and therefore the verb is not a polysyllable.

Related terms

• polysyllabic
• polysyllabicism
• polysyllabicity
• polysyllabism

Translations

a word with more than two syllables

• Galician: polisílaba f
• Greek: πολυσύλλαβη λέξη f (polysýllavi léxi)
• Italian: polisillabo (it) m
• Manx: yl-heeley
• Turkish: çok heceli

See also

• monosyllable
• multisyllable