I. ˈsi-lə-bəl noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French sillabe, silable, from Latin syllaba, from Greek syllabē, 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
II. transitive verb
( syl·la·bled ; syl·la·bling -b(ə-)liŋ)
Date: 15th century
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