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hendecasyllable

American  
[hen-dek-uh-sil-uh-buhl, hen-dek-uh-sil-] / hɛnˈdɛk əˌsɪl ə bəl, ˌhɛn dɛk əˈsɪl- /

noun

  1. a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.


hendecasyllable British  
/ hɛnˌdɛkəsɪˈlæbɪk, ˈhɛndɛkəˌsɪləbəl /

noun

  1. prosody a verse line of 11 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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of hendecasyllable

1740–50; < Latin hendecasyllabus < Greek hendekasýllabos. See hendeca-, syllable

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.

It was the beginning of a revolution, which Ferreira completed by abandoning the hendecasyllable for the Italian decasyllable, and by composing the noble and austere 286 Roman poetry of his letters, odes and elegies.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3 "Fenton, Edward" to "Finistere" by Various

What seems tolerably certain is that the modern Italian hendecasyllable was suggested by one of the Latin eleven-syllabled meters, but that, in the decay of quantitative prosody, an iambic rhythm asserted itself.

From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington

The alternation of this decasyllabic rhythm with the ordinary hendecasyllable is studiously artistic; I have retained it throughout.

From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus by Ellis, Robinson

His miniature painting was in place, his sprightly and dexterous handling of the hexameter and the hendecasyllable could be more profitably employed.

From Post-Augustan Poetry From Seneca to Juvenal by Butler, Harold Edgeworth

With Statius, as with Martial, the hendecasyllable always begins with a spondee.

From Post-Augustan Poetry From Seneca to Juvenal by Butler, Harold Edgeworth