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Definition of "octosyllable" [oc•to•syl•la•ble]

  • A line of verse containing eight syllables. (noun)
  • A poem having eight syllables in each line. (noun)
  • A word of eight syllables. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "octosyllable" in a sentence
  • "In his handling of the French octosyllable he at once displays that impatience of the rigidly syllabic system of prosody which Teutonic poetry of the best kind always shows sooner or later."
  • "Sometimes there is a double rhyme instead of a single, making seven syllables, though not altering the rhythm; and sometimes this is extended to a full octosyllable."
  • "If he is far less smooth, he has not the monotony which accompanies and, so to speak, dogs the "skipping octosyllable"; and if he cannot, as Chrestien can, frame a set passage or show-piece, he manages to keep up a diffused interest, and in certain instances -- the story of Rouwènne (Rowena), the Tintagel passage, the speech of Walwain to the Emperor of"
Words like "octosyllable"