Etymology

octosyllable

O1C3T1O1S1Y4L1L1A1B3L1E1

Today it means: line of verse with eight syllables Full definition →

English syllable ← Latin octō ← Proto-Italic *oktō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*oḱtṓw
  2. Proto-Hellenic*oktṓ
  3. Ancient Greekὀκτώ (oktṓ)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*oḱtṓw
  5. Proto-Italic*oktō
  6. Latinoctō
  7. Englishocto-
  8. Englishsyllable
  9. English todayoctosyllable

From octo- + syllable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.