Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - syllable

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French sillabe, silable, from Latin syllaba, from Greek syllabe, from syllambanein to gather together, from syn- + lambanein to take — more at latch  Date: 14th century  1. a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with one or more consonant sounds preceding or following  2. one or more letters (as syl, la, and ble) in a word (as syl•la•ble) usually set off from the rest of the word by a centered dot or a hyphen and roughly corresponding to the ~s of spoken language and treated as helps to pronunciation or as guides to placing hyphens at the end of a line  3. the smallest conceivable expression or unit of something ; jot  4. sol-fa ~s  II. transitive verb  (~d; syllabling)  Date: 15th century  1. to give a number or arrangement of ~s to (a word or verse)  2. to express or utter in or as if in ~s