dodecasyllable

American

[doh-dek-uh-sil-uh-buhl, doh-dek-] / doʊˌdɛk əˈsɪl ə bəl, ˌdoʊ dɛk- /

noun

a word or line of verse containing 12 syllables.

dodecasyllable British

/ ˌdəʊdɛkəˈsɪləbəl /

noun

prosody a line of twelve syllables

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dodecasyllable

First recorded in 1745–55; dodeca- + syllable

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

dodecasyllable

Hitherto the decasyllable and the dodecasyllable had been used indiscriminately, and Ronsard's Franciade is written in the former.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023