decasyllable
9.3
A line of poetry with ten syllables
- noun
- /ˌdɛkəˈsɪləbl/
- Literature
:
decasílabo
- In English poetry, the decasyllable is closely associated with iambic pentameter.
Examples
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Shakespeare often used a decasyllable in his plays.
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A decasyllable line can create a rhythmic flow.
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A classic Shakespearean sonnet is composed mainly in lines of decasyllable.
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The poet chose to write each stanza in a decasyllable to achieve a rhythmic consistency.
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The poet chose to write each stanza in a decasyllable to achieve a rhythmic consistency.
-
In English poetry, the decasyllable is closely associated with iambic pentameter.
-
A classic Shakespearean sonnet is composed mainly in lines of decasyllable.
Surface Forms
decasyllable singular
decasyllables plural
Morphology
Etymology
Decasyllable comes from deca- meaning 'ten', like in decade, and syllable meaning 'a unit of sound'. So a decasyllable is literally a line of poetry with ten syllables, which is why the term describes that specific rhythm in verse.
