Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Syllable \Syl"la*ble\, v. t.
   To pronounce the syllables of; to utter; to articulate.
   --Milton.

Syllable \Syl"la*ble\, n. [OE. sillable, OF. sillabe, F.
   syllabe, L. syllaba, Gr. ? that which is held together,
   several letters taken together so as to form one sound, a
   syllable, fr. ? to take together; ? with + ? to take; cf.
   Skr. labh, rabh. Cf. {Lemma}, {Dilemma}.]
   1. An elementary sound, or a combination of elementary
      sounds, uttered together, or with a single effort or
      impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or a part of
      a word. In other terms, it is a vowel or a diphtong,
      either by itself or flanked by one or more consonants, the
      whole produced by a single impulse or utterance. One of
      the liquids, l, m, n, may fill the place of a vowel in a
      syllable. Adjoining syllables in a word or phrase need not
      to be marked off by a pause, but only by such an abatement
      and renewal, or re["e]nforcement, of the stress as to give
      the feeling of separate impulses. See Guide to
      Pronunciation, [sect]275.

   2. In writing and printing, a part of a word, separated from
      the rest, and capable of being pronounced by a single
      impulse of the voice. It may or may not correspond to a
      syllable in the spoken language.

            Withouten vice [i. e. mistake] of syllable or
            letter.                               --Chaucer.

   3. A small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise
      or short; a particle.

            Before any syllable of the law of God was written.
                                                  --Hooker.

            Who dare speak One syllable against him? --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

syllable
     n : a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme; "the word
         `pocket' has two syllables"