monosyllable

A monosyllable is a word that consists of a single syllable. In phonology, a syllable is typically built around a nucleus, usually a vowel, with optional onset before it and optional coda after it. A monosyllable contains only one nucleus, and thus a single syllable boundary. The term comes from Greek monos (“one”) and syllabos (“syllable”).

In English, many common words are monosyllabic, such as cat, dog, sun, book, and light. Monosyllables can have complex consonant structures, including onset clusters (for example, street) and codas (for example, often ending with a single consonant like in cat or with multiple consonants as in strengths). Some monosyllables can appear visually long yet remain a single syllable, such as twelfths or strengths. They can be open (ending in a vowel) or closed (ending in a consonant).

Monosyllables play a role in linguistics, poetry, and language pedagogy. Their rhythm and stress patterns influence speech tempo and meter in verse, where sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables shape line structure. In cross-linguistic terms, the frequency and distribution of monosyllabic words vary by language and writing system; some languages and dialects favor shorter syllables, while others allow more varied syllable structures.

Etymology traces the word monosyllable to Greek roots meaning “one syllable.” The concept is contrasted with disyllables (two syllables) and polysyllables (three or more), and it remains a basic unit for describing word structure in many linguistic analyses.