Dictionary

polysyllable en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- English syllable English polysyllable From poly- + syllable.

Meanings

1. A word with more than two syllables. Sometimes used in a more restricted sense.
   • The third syllable of provided is ed, and therefore the verb is not a polysyllable. 1998, Albert Joseph, Put It In Writing, page 81:
   • For instance, words can differ in length, and we can rhyme a monosyllable with a polysyllable, like tracks with haversacks. 1982, Donald Hall, To Read Poetry, page 83:
   • 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' 1992, Samuel Elmo Martin, Reference Grammar of Korean:

Forms

Relateds

multisyllable · polysyllabic · polysyllabicity · polysyllabism · monosyllable · polysyllabicism

Translations (5)

gv yl-heeley (a word with more than two syllables) · el πολυσύλλαβη λέξη (a word with more than two syllables) · gl polisílaba (a word with more than two syllables) · tr çok heceli (a word with more than two syllables) · it polisillabo (a word with more than two syllables)