n.
Pronunciation: ' si-l ə -b ə l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French sillabe, silable, from Latin syllaba, from Greek syllab ē , from syllambanein to gather together, from syn- + lambanein to take ― more at LATCH
Date: 14th century
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 syl · la · ble ) usually 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