disyllable
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disyllable
1580–90; di- 1 + syllable; compare Greek disýllabos of two syllables; variant dissyllable has ss < Middle French dissilabe
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a disyllable the vowel is long by the 'apex' rule, as in 'hyphen'.
From Society for Pure English Tract 4 The Pronunciation of English Words Derived from the Latin by Sargeaunt, John
Perhaps the only disyllable is 'study'; the shortening of a stressed u shows its immediate derivation from the old French estudie.
From Society for Pure English Tract 4 The Pronunciation of English Words Derived from the Latin by Sargeaunt, John
The narrower range of cadence allowed by the rule which makes every couplet regularly end in a disyllable, involves a monotony which only Ovid's immense dexterity enabled him to overcome.
From Latin Literature by Mackail, J. W. (John William)
The secret is, to draw out et into a disyllable, et-te, as the Italians do, who pronounce Latin verse, if possible, worse than we, adding a syllable to such as end with a consonant.
From Imaginary Conversations and Poems A Selection by Landor, Walter Savage
The word is metrically suited to the second half of the pentameter, before the disyllable: compare Tib I ii 70 & II iii 52, Fast V 118 & V 170, and Tr II 114.
From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
