Definitions for Syllable
ˈsɪl ə bəlsyl·la·ble

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 4 votes

1. syllablenoun

   a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme

   "the word `pocket' has two syllables"

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.5 / 4 votes

1. syllablenoun

   A unit of human speech that is interpreted by the listener as a single sound, although syllables usually consist of one or more vowel sounds, either alone or combined with the sound of one or more consonants; a word consists of one or more syllables.

2. syllablenoun

   The written representation of a given pronounced syllable.

3. syllableverb

   To utter in syllables.

   Aery tongues that syllable men's names uE00025979uE001 Milton.

4. Etymology: Middle English and Middle French sillabe, from syllaba, from συλλαβή, from συλλαμβάνω, from συν + λαμβάνω.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. SYLLABLEnoun

   Etymology: συλλαϐὴ; syllabe, French.

   1. As much of a word as is uttered by the help of one vowel, or one articulation.

   I heard
   Each syllable that breath made up between them. William Shakespeare.

   There is that property in all letters of aptness to be conjoined in syllables and words, through the voluble motions of the organs from one stop or figure to another, that they modify and discriminate the voice without appearing to discontinue it. William Holder, Elements of Speech.

   2. Any thing proverbially concise.

   Abraham, Job, and the rest that lived before any syllable of the law of God was written, did they not sin as much as we do in every action not commanded? Richard Hooker.

   To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
   Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
   To the last syllable of recorded time;
   And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
   The way to dusty death. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   He hath told so many melancholy stories, without one syllable of truth, that he hath blunted the edge of my fears. Jonathan Swift.

2. To Syllableverb

   To utter; to pronounce; to articulate. Not in use.

   Etymology: from the noun.

   Airy tongues that syllable mens names
   On sands and shores, and desart wildernesses. John Milton.

WikipediaRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Syllable

   A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic metre and its stress patterns. Speech can usually be divided up into a whole number of syllables: for example, the word ignite is made of two syllables: ig and nite. Syllabic writing began several hundred years before the first letters. The earliest recorded syllables are on tablets written around 2800 BC in the Sumerian city of Ur. This shift from pictograms to syllables has been called "the most important advance in the history of writing".A word that consists of a single syllable (like English dog) is called a monosyllable (and is said to be monosyllabic). Similar terms include disyllable (and disyllabic; also bisyllable and bisyllabic) for a word of two syllables; trisyllable (and trisyllabic) for a word of three syllables; and polysyllable (and polysyllabic), which may refer either to a word of more than three syllables or to any word of more than one syllable.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. syllable

   A syllable is a unit of pronunciation in linguistics that typically consists of a vowel or vowel sound, possibly accompanied by consonantal sounds, considered as the smallest phonetic unit of a word. It is a single, uninterrupted sound that forms a word or part of a word. Every word is made up of at least one syllable.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. Syllablenoun

   an elementary sound, or a combination of elementary sounds, uttered together, or with a single effort or impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or a part of a word. In other terms, it is a vowel or a diphtong, either by itself or flanked by one or more consonants, the whole produced by a single impulse or utterance. One of the liquids, l, m, n, may fill the place of a vowel in a syllable. Adjoining syllables in a word or phrase need not to be marked off by a pause, but only by such an abatement and renewal, or reenforcement, of the stress as to give the feeling of separate impulses. See Guide to Pronunciation, /275

2. Syllablenoun

   in writing and printing, a part of a word, separated from the rest, and capable of being pronounced by a single impulse of the voice. It may or may not correspond to a syllable in the spoken language

3. Syllablenoun

   a small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise or short; a particle

4. Syllableverb

   to pronounce the syllables of; to utter; to articulate

5. Etymology: [OE. sillable, OF. sillabe, F. syllabe, L. syllaba, Gr. that which is held together, several letters taken together so as to form one sound, a syllable, fr. to take together; with + to take; cf. Skr. labh, rabh. Cf. Lemma, Dilemma.]

WikidataRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Syllable

   A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins. Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter and its stress patterns. Syllabic writing began several hundred years before the first letters. The earliest recorded syllables are on tablets written around 2800 BC in the Sumerian city of Ur. This shift from pictograms to syllables has been called "the most important advance in the history of writing". A word that consists of a single syllable is called a monosyllable. Similar terms include disyllable for a word of two syllables; trisyllable for a word of three syllables; and polysyllable, which may refer either to a word of more than three syllables or to any word of more than one syllable.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Syllable

   sil′a-bl, n. several letters taken together so as to form one sound: a word or part of a word uttered by a single effort of the voice: a small part of a sentence.—v.t. to express by syllables, to utter.—n. Syll′abary, a list of characters representing syllables—also Syllabā′rium.—adjs. Syllab′ic, -al, consisting of a syllable or syllables.—adv. Syllab′ically.—vs.t. Syllab′icāte, Syllab′ify (pa.t. and pa.p. syllab′ified), to form into syllables—ns. Syllabicā′tion, Syllabificā′tion; Syll′abism, syllabic character, representation of syllables. [L. syllaba—Gr. syllabē—syn, with, lab-, lambanein, to take.]

Matched Categories

1. • Language Unit

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for Syllable »

1. sellably

How to pronounce Syllable?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Syllable in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Syllable in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Syllable in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of Syllable in a Sentence

1. William Shakespeare:

   To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

2. Dejan Stojanovic:

   Cosmos is God, who whispered the syllable of life.

3. Irwin Michael:

   A lot of people are waiting for (the Fed) - basically every syllable of their pronouncement and whatever their view is looking forward.

4. Henry David Thoreau:

   I have lived some thirty-odd years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors.

5. Ed Asner:

   It all blends into each other, ’Rich Man, Poor Man’ was an epiphany for me. ‘Elf’ was a delight. ‘Up’ was an unbelievable stroke. I think it ranks up at the top for Pixar. and it certainly was a wonderful shot in my arm and butt as to my career, but ‘Elf’ and ‘Up,’ I am down to single syllable names these days.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Syllable
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Syllable
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Syllable
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Syllable
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Syllable
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=Syllable
9. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Syllable