quadrisyllable

American  

[kwod-ruh-sil-uh-buhl] / ˈkwɒd rəˌsɪl ə bəl /

noun

1. a word of four syllables.

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Other Word Forms

• quadrisyllabic
  adjective
• quadrisyllabical
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of quadrisyllable

First recorded in 1650–60; quadri- + syllable

Example Sentences

The quadrisyllable has Joycean overtones: macneilehrer -- a run-on conjuring up two-headed television journalism, emanating from Washington and New York, dispassionate, in-depth and, in the words of one contributor, "gloriously boring."

From Time Magazine Archive

But a distinction without a difference could not sustain itself: and both alike disguised their emptiness under this pompous quadrisyllable.

From Miscellaneous Essays by De Quincey, Thomas

In the second half verse, I do not remember a single instance of deviation from this, though sometimes, but very seldom, the first half verse ends with another quadrisyllable foot.

From Nala and Damayanti and Other Poems by Milman, Henry Hart

Of the twenty-one quadrisyllable verse-endings in the Ex Ponto, six involve proper nouns: II ii 76 Dalmatiae, ix 42 Alcinoi, the present passage, IV iii 54 Anticyra, viii 62 Oechalia, and ix 80 Danuuium.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear

Ovid admitted quadrisyllable endings more freely if they were proper names.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear