syllabicate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1654; back-formation from syllabication.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭlăʹbĭkāt, IPA^(key): /sɪˈlæbɪkeɪt/
• Hyphenation: syl‧lab‧i‧cate

Verb

syllabicate (third-person singular simple present syllabicates, present participle syllabicating, simple past and past participle syllabicated)

1. (rare) To syllabify.
   • 1654, Joseph Brooksbank, Plain, brief, and pertinent Rules for the judicious and artificial Syllabication of all English Words, page 27:

     To Syllabicate, which is to find out a word by its syllables.

References

• “Sylla·bicate” listed (immediately preceding “Syllabication”) on page 357 of volume IX, part II (Su–Th) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
    Sylla·bicate, v. rare^—°. [Back-formation f. next.] trans. ‘To form into syllables.’ [¶] 1775 Ash Suppl. Hence in later Dicts.
• “syˈllabicate, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]