polysyllabism

English

Noun

polysyllabism (usually uncountable, plural polysyllabisms)

1. (linguistics) The state or characteristic of having or using words containing multiple syllables, sometimes as a stage in the development of language.
   • 1936, Martin Joos, "Book Review: The Psycho-Biology of Language by George K. Zipf," Language, vol. 12, no. 3 (July/Sep), p. 202,

     Chinese polysyllabism is a sort of synthesis, or aggregation, or 'addition' of morphemes and their meanings.

2. Polysyllabicism.
   • 1867, William Dwight Whitney, Language and the Study of Language, New York: Scribner, page 348:

     Cumbrous compounds are formed as the names of objects and a character of tedious and time-wasting polysyllabism is given to the language.

Related terms

• polysyllabic
• polysyllabicity
• polysyllable

References

• “polysyllabism”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.