English → Latin
“syllable” in Latin
syllabasyllable; vowel; poems, versesexternusoutward, external; foreign, alien, exotic, strangeultimusthe furthest or farthest, most distant, most remote, the utmost or uttermost, extreme, last; last, final, ultimate, end;paenultimuspenultimatesyllăbātimsyllable by syllablemŏnŏsyllăbusmonosyllabicdĭsyllăbusdissyllabictrĭsyllăbusof three syllables
The English word syllable itself goes back to Latin syllaba.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
syllable
syllaba. The last syllable, syllaba postrema (Plaut.); externa; ultima (Quint.): the last syllable but one, paenultima (Gell.): to count syllables, syllabas dinumerare: by syllables, syllable by syllable, syllabatim (Cic.): of one syllable, of two, three syllables, monosyllabus, disyllabus, trisyllabus.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for syllable?
- The usual Latin words for “syllable” are syllaba, externus, ultimus; also paenultimus, syllăbātim, mŏnŏsyllăbus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.