polysyllable
nounEtymology From poly- + syllable.
1
A word with more than two syllables. Sometimes used in a more restricted sense.
- For instance, words can differ in length, and we can rhyme a monosyllable with a polysyllable, like tracks with haversacks.1982, Donald Hall, To Read Poetry, page 83:
- In the Phyengan dialect, wuy developed into wi but at the end of a polysyllable it often dropped the -y to become wu (ibid): Tang-nakwu = Tang-nakwi 'donkey'1992, Samuel Elmo Martin, Reference Grammar of Korean:
1 more example
- The third syllable of provided is ed, and therefore the verb is not a polysyllable.1998, Albert Joseph, Put It In Writing, page 81:
- Related terms
- polysyllabic, polysyllabicism, polysyllabicity, polysyllabism, monosyllable, multisyllable