hendecasyllable

[ hen-dek-uh-sil-uh-buhl, hen-dek-uh-sil- ]

noun

1. a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.

hendecasyllable

/ hɛnˌdɛkəsɪˈlæbɪk; ˈhɛndɛkəˌsɪləbəl /

noun

1. prosody a verse line of 11 syllables

Derived Forms

• hendecasyllabic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hendecasyllable¹

1740–50; < Latin hendecasyllabus < Greek hendekasýllabos. See hendeca-, syllable

Word History and Origins

Origin of hendecasyllable¹

C18: via Latin from Greek hendekasullabos

Example Sentences

Hendecasyllable, hen′dek-a-sil-a-bl, n. a metrical line of eleven syllables.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

The Monthly Miscellany for June 1776 provided a few kindly lines: "This didactic rhapsody, the precepts contained in which are founded upon passages referred to in his Lordship's letters, is written in hendecasyllable measure, and is not destitute of humour."

From Project Gutenberg

The Italian hendecasyllable is an accentual iambic line of five feet with one unaccented syllable over and included in the rhyme.

From Project Gutenberg

What seems tolerably certain is that the modern Italian hendecasyllable was suggested by one of the Latin eleven-syllabled meters, but that, in the decay of quantitative prosody, an iambic rhythm asserted itself.

From Project Gutenberg

That which is most frequently used is the Phalæcian hendecasyllable, consisting of a spondee, dactyl, and three trochees.

From Project Gutenberg