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hendecasyllable

[hen-dek-uh-sil-uh-buh l, hen-dek-uh-sil-]
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noun
  1. a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.
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Origin of hendecasyllable

1740–50; < Latin hendecasyllabus < Greek hendekasýllabos. See hendeca-, syllable
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hendecasyllable

Historical Examples

  • Hendecasyllable, hen′dek-a-sil-a-bl, n. a metrical line of eleven syllables.

    Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)

    Various

  • Therefore, nothing very distinct can be asserted about the origin of the hendecasyllable iambic line, which marks Italian poetry.

  • They first employed the Italian hendecasyllable, although it did not become acclimated till the days of Boscn.

  • Endechas reales are cuartetas in which three heptasyllables are followed by a hendecasyllable.

    Legends, Tales and Poems

    Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

British Dictionary definitions for hendecasyllable

hendecasyllable

noun
  1. prosody a verse line of 11 syllables
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Derived Formshendecasyllabic (hɛnˌdɛkəsɪˈlæbɪk), adjective

Word Origin

C18: via Latin from Greek hendekasullabos
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