octosyllabic

[ ok-toh-si-lab-ik ]

adjective

1. consisting of or pertaining to eight syllables.

noun

1. an octosyllable.

Word History and Origins

Origin of octosyllabic¹

1765–75; < Late Latin octōsyllab ( us ) (< Greek, equivalent to oktō- octo- + -syllabos syllabic ) + -ic

Example Sentences

It’s dizzying — nearly 22,000 lines of octosyllabic Old French couplets.

From New York Times

Metrically varied, the lines are mostly octosyllabic, and that count-of-eight seems fundamental, even where the audible syllable count is less, as in stanza three, line eight.

From The Guardian

It is composed in octosyllabic verses, which rhyme in couplets; each verse presenting to the student some useful Chinese notion, either in morals or in general knowledge.

From Project Gutenberg

Ron′del, a form of French verse, earlier than the rondeau, consisting of thirteen octosyllabic or decasyllabic lines on two rhymes—practised by Charles of Orleans, &c.;

From Project Gutenberg

This is an octosyllabic poem in French verse, written by Ambroise, a Norman trouv�re who followed Richard I. to the Holy Land.

From Project Gutenberg