trisyllable

American  

[trahy-sil-uh-buhl, trahy-sil-, trih-] / ˈtraɪˌsɪl ə bəl, traɪˈsɪl-, trɪ- /

noun

1. a word of three syllables, as pendulum.

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trisyllable British  

/ ˌtraɪsɪˈlæbɪk, traɪˈsɪləbəl /

noun

1. a word of three syllables

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Other Word Forms

• trisyllabic adjective
• trisyllabical adjective
• trisyllabically adverb
• trisyllabism noun

Etymology

Origin of trisyllable

1580–90; tri- + syllable, modeled on Greek trisýllabos having three syllables

Example Sentences

Alas! tuberose is a trisyllable if properly derived from the Latin tuberosus, the lumpy flower, having nothing to do with roses or with trumpets of ivory in name any more than in nature. 

From Reviews by Wilde, Oscar

Pennyloaf's legal name was Penelope, which, being pronounced as a trisyllable, transformed itself by further corruption into a sound at all events conveying some meaning.

From The Nether World by Gissing, George

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

From Society for Pure English Tract 4 The Pronunciation of English Words Derived from the Latin by Sargeaunt, John

In the first and fourth scenes the word “virtuous” was used as a dissyllable; in the third it was used as a trisyllable.

From A Study of Shakespeare by Gosse, Edmund

Each line ends with a trisyllable or a tetrasyllable, with dissyllabic rhyme running through the quatrain.

From The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran Translations Of Christian Literature. Series V. Lives Of The Celtic Saints by MacAlister, R.A. Stewart