trisyllable

[ trahy-sil-uh-buhl, trahy-sil-, trih- ]

noun

1. a word of three syllables, as pendulum.

trisyllable

/ ˌtraɪsɪˈlæbɪk; traɪˈsɪləbəl /

noun

1. a word of three syllables

Derived Forms

• trisyllabic, adjective
• ˌtrisylˈlabically, adverb

Other Words From

• tri·syl·lab·ic [trahy-si-, lab, -ik, tris-i-], trisyl·labi·cal adjective
• trisyl·labi·cal·ly adverb
• tri·syllab·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of trisyllable¹

1580–90; tri- + syllable, modeled on Greek trisýllabos having three syllables

Example Sentences

My name is not so short: ’Tis a trisyllable, an’t please your worship; But vulgar tongues have made bold to profane it With the short sound of that unhallowed idol They call a kit.

From Project Gutenberg

Dr. Hall has also shown that scientist, which Mr. A. J. Ellis saw fit to denounce as an "American barbaric trisyllable," was first used by an Englishman, Dr. Whewell, in 1840.

From Project Gutenberg

Sappho dissolves the word ὦον into a trisyllable, making it ὤïον, when she says— They say that formerly Leda found an egg.

From Project Gutenberg

A less number are dissyllabic; few exceed this; and it may be questioned, from the present state of the examination, whether there is a single primitive trisyllable.

From Project Gutenberg

When introduced early in the 18th century it was as a trisyllable co-co-a, a mispronunciation of cacao or cocoa, the Spanish adaptation from the Mexican cacauatl.

From Project Gutenberg