syllable

CEFRB1

/ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A unit of spoken sound containing a vowel sound.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise or short; a particle.

Examples

  • The accent of the word is on the second syllable.

  • The accent of this word is on the second syllable.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈsɪl.ə.bɫ̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The written representation of a given pronounced syllable.

  2. A unit of human speech which often forms words corresponding to one opening of the mouth; a vowel and its surrounding consonants.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To utter in syllables.

More examples

In context

  • You stress the first syllable in ‘happiness’.

  • I wanted to look up velleity and quotidian and memorize the fuckers for all time, spell them, learn them, pronounce them syllable by syllable—vocalize, phonate, utter the sounds, say the words for all they're worth.

  • Th'Archbyſhop Is the Kings hand, and tongue, and who dare ſpeak One ſyllable againſt him?

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In the word 'potato', the stress is on the second blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English syllable, sillable, syllabylle, sylabul, from Anglo-Norman sillable, from Old French sillebe, from Latin syllaba, from Ancient Greek συλλαβή (sullabḗ), from συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō, “to gather together”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).