decasyllabic

[dek-uh-si-lab-ik]

adjective

1. having ten syllables.

   a decasyllabic verse.

Other Word Forms

• nondecasyllabic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of decasyllabic¹

1765–75; deca- + syllabic; compare French décasyllabique

Example Sentences

The style of the work was entirely novel; and the stanza in which it was written—the decasyllabic quatrain with alternate rhymes—had never been so effectively handled.

From Project Gutenberg

Ron′del, a form of French verse, earlier than the rondeau, consisting of thirteen octosyllabic or decasyllabic lines on two rhymes—practised by Charles of Orleans, &c.;

From Project Gutenberg

The middle division of each contains ten decasyllabic lines.

From Project Gutenberg

The decasyllabic line was an old measure; so was the seven-line stanza, both in Provençal and French.

From Project Gutenberg

When we come to the department of metre we seem to be on surer ground; the metre of Beaumont has high qualities, and his decasyllabic verse reminds me of the cold purity of a waterfall.

From Project Gutenberg