Standard Lemma guide

syllabify

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • sĭlăʹbĭfī
  • /sɪˈlæbɪfaɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To divide a word into syllables; to syllabicate; to syllabize.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

divide into syllables

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • syllabify the words

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: syllabicate, syllabize, syllabise

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: segment, section

History

Etymology

First attested in 1799–1802; back-formation from syllabification; compare the Old French sillabifier.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: разделям на срички (razdeljam na srički) — to parse into syllables
  • Catalan: sil·labejar — to parse into syllables
  • Catalan: lletrejar — to parse into syllables
  • Finnish: tavuttaa — to parse into syllables
  • French: syllaber — to parse into syllables
  • Greek: συλλαβοποιώ (syllavopoió) — to parse into syllables
  • Hungarian: szótagol — to parse into syllables
  • Italian: sillabare — to parse into syllables
  • Romanian: silabisi — to parse into syllables
  • Spanish: silabificar — to parse into syllables
  • Spanish: silabear — to parse into syllables
  • Spanish: silabar — to parse into syllables
  • Turkish: hecelemek — to parse into syllables
  • Volapük: silabön — to parse into syllables