pentasyllable

[pen-tuh-sil-uh-buhl]

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• pentasyllabic adjective
• pentasyllabism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pentasyllable¹

First recorded in 1810–20; penta- + syllable

Example Sentences

The three paradoxers last named and myself have a pentasyllable convention, under which, though we go far beyond civility, we keep within civilization.

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