[syl.la.ble] n [ME, fr. MF sillabe, fr. L syllaba, fr. Gk syllabe, fr. syllambanein to gather together, fr. syn- + lambanein to take--more at latch] (14c) 1: a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with one or more consonant sounds preceding or following
2: one or more letters (as syl, la, and ble) in a word (as syllable) usu. set off from the rest of the word by a centered dot or a hyphen and roughly corresponding to the syllables of spoken language and treated as helps to pronunciation or as guides to placing hyphens at the end of a line
3: the smallest conceivable expression or unit of something: jot
4: sol-fa syllables
[2]syllable vt syl.la.bled ; syl.la.bling (15c) 1: to give a number or arrangement of syllables to (a word or verse)
2: to express or utter in or as if in syllables