hendecasyllabic

[hen-dek-uh-si-lab-ik, hen-dek-]

adjective

1. having 11 syllables.

noun

1. a hendecasyllable.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hendecasyllabic¹

First recorded in 1720–30; hendecasyllable + -ic

Example Sentences

Sonnet, son′et, n. a poem in a stanza mostly iambic in movement, properly decasyllabic or hendecasyllabic in metre, always in fourteen lines—originally composed of an octave and a sestet—properly expressing two successive phases of one thought.—v.t. and v.i. to celebrate in sonnets.—adj.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

The Italian hendecasyllabic, the French Alexandrian, the English heroic iambic, are obvious examples.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

It is clear that the quality of the verse is not affected by the number of syllables in the rhyme; and the line is called hendecasyllabic because versi piani are immeasurably more frequent and more agreeable to the ear than either versi tronchi or sdruccioli.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

But the Tuscan genius determined decisively for the hendecasyllabic.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

In Tuscany the lyric in question consists, in its normal form, of four alternately rhyming hendecasyllabic lines, followed by what is technically called the ripresa, or repetition, which may be composed of two, four, or even more verses.

Read more on Project Gutenberg