decasyllabicadj.n.
/dɛkəsɪˈlabɪk/ A. adj.
Consisting of ten syllables.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [adjective] > having ten syllables
decasyllabica1771
decasyllable1837
a1771 T. Gray Observ. Eng. Metre in Wks. (1814) II. 16 Spenser has also given an instance of the decasyllabick measure.
1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. viii. 594 Every line is regularly and harmoniously decasyllabic.
1854 R. W. Emerson Poetry & Imag. in Wks. (1906) III. 159 The decasyllabic quatrain.
B. n.
A line of ten syllables.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > metre > [noun] > variety of > ten syllables
decasyllabon1589
decasyllable1859
decasyllabic1880
1880 S. Lane-Poole in Macmillan's Mag. No. 246. 498 Over four thousand lines of decasyllabics have not stifled his fervour.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
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adj.n.a1771