Progression

hendecasyllabic (hen-dek-uh-si-LAB-ik) adjective

Having eleven syllables.

noun

A word or line of eleven syllables.

[From Latin hendecasyllabus, from Greek hendekasyllabos, from hendeca-(eleven), from hen, neuter of heis (one) + deka (ten), + syllabic.]

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Hendecasyllabics:
http://georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/texts/hendecasyllable.html

"There are those long, elaborate, beautifully balanced sentences, with their trailing clusters of dependent clauses, frequently so arranged as to reproduce the characteristic hendecasyllabic rhythms of Italian poetry."
T. Gwynfor Griffith; Obituary: Professor G. H. McWilliam; Independent (London, UK); Jan 11, 2001.

"If he were alive today, the great Roman poet, Catullus, master of the hendecasyllabic metre, would likely be front and centre in the savage war on words and the importance of hourly grammar drills in the Alberta education system."
Bill Sass; The Savage War on Words And the Particulars of Grammar; Edmonton Journal (Canada); Nov 8, 2001.

This week's theme: words related to the number eleven.

Permalink:
http://wordsmith.org/words/hendecasyllabic.html

Posted by Keya at March 18, 2005 06:03 PM