syllable

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A single unit of sound in a word, usually one vowel sound with consonants around it.

   The word 'pocket' has two syllables.

2. 2
   noun

   The written form of a spoken syllable.

   Children learn to read by sounding out each syllable.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Syllable came into late Middle English through Old French and Latin from Greek sullabē. That Greek word combines sun-, “together,” with lambanein, “to take,” so a syllable is a group of sounds “taken together” and pronounced in one effort.

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”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary