syllable
syl·la·ble/ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/noun, verb
syllable is spelled S-Y-L-L-A-B-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (syl·la·ble). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, syllable means “A unit of human speech which often forms words corresponding to one opening of the mouth; a vowel and its surrounding consonants” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of syllable is syllables.
How many letters and syllables are in syllable?
| Letters | 8: S-Y-L-L-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: syl·la·ble |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is syllable?
Syllable appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce syllable?
- US /ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/
- US [ˈsɪl.ə.bɫ̩]
Syllable has 3 syllables, split syl·la·ble in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-syllable.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Samuel_Muldoon_(Muldoonsamuel55)-syllable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of syllable
- syllables plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- syllabling participle, present
- syllabled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does syllable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A unit of human speech which often forms words corresponding to one opening of the mouth; a vowel and its surrounding consonants.
- 2
The written representation of a given pronounced syllable.
- 3
A small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise or short; a particle.
verb
- 1
To utter in syllables.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Syllable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unit of speech:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does syllable come from?
From Middle English syllable, sillable, syllabylle, sylabul, from Anglo-Norman sillable, from Old French sillebe, from Latin syllaba, from Ancient Greek συλλαβή (sullabḗ), from συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō, “to gather together”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).