Topic summary
Short syllable
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Syllable weight.
Basic definition
In Ancient Greekhexameter poetry and Latin literature, lines followed certain metrical patterns, such as based on arrangements of heavy and light syllables. A heavy syllable was referred to as a longum and a light as a brevis (and in the modern day, reflecting the ancient terms, a longum is often called a "long syllable" and a brevis a "short syllable", potentially creating confusion between syllable length and vowel length).