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trisyllable

[trahy-sil-uh-buh l, trahy-sil-, tri-]
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noun
  1. a word of three syllables, as pendulum.
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Origin of trisyllable

1580–90; tri- + syllable, modeled on Greek trisýllabos having three syllables
Related formstri·syl·lab·ic [trahy-si-lab-ik, tris-i-] /ˌtraɪ sɪˈlæb ɪk, ˌtrɪs ɪ-/, tri·syl·lab·i·cal, adjectivetri·syl·lab·i·cal·ly, adverbtri·syl·lab·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trisyllable

Historical Examples

  • A word of three syllables is termed a Trisyllable; as, Mag-net-ism, Mum-mer-y.

    The Comic English Grammar

    Percival Leigh

  • Therefore, rehu might be a monosyllable, a dissyllable, or a trisyllable.

    Legends, Tales and Poems

    Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

  • Unless we are to pronounce this as a trisyllable a word must have dropped out of this line.

  • In the first line I inserted in my Edition all; but it was needless; for 'doctrine' was no doubt pronounced as a trisyllable.

  • Three consonants running, as in 'perfunctory', keep the stress where it has to be in a trisyllable, such as 'victory'.

British Dictionary definitions for trisyllable

trisyllable

noun
  1. a word of three syllables
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Derived Formstrisyllabic (ˌtraɪsɪˈlæbɪk), adjectivetrisyllabically, adverb
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