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discant

 - 6 dictionary results

dis⋅cant

  [n. dis-kant; v. dis-kant]
Use discant in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also, dis⋅can⋅tus  [dis-kan-tuhs] . Music. a 13th-century polyphonic style with strict mensural meter in all the voice parts, in contrast to the metrically free organum of the period.
2. descant.
–verb (used without object)
3. descant.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < ML discanthus; see descant

Related forms:
dis⋅cant⋅er, noun

des⋅cant

  [n., adj. des-kant; v. des-kant, dis-]
–noun
1. Music.
a. a melody or counterpoint accompanying a simple musical theme and usually written above it.
b. (in part music) the soprano.
c. a song or melody.
2. a variation upon anything; comment on a subject.
–adjective
3. Music (chiefly British).
a. soprano: a descant recorder.
b. treble: a descant viol.
–verb (used without object)
4. Music. to sing.
5. to comment or discourse at great length.
Also, discant.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME discant, descaunt < AF < ML discanthus, equiv. to L dis- dis- 1 + cantus song; see chant

Related forms:
des⋅cant⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To discant
des·cant   (děs'kānt')   
n.  

  1. also dis·cant (dĭs'-) Music

    1. An ornamental melody or counterpoint sung or played above a theme.

    2. The highest part sung in part music.

  2. A discussion or discourse on a theme.

intr.v.   (děs'kānt', dě-skānt') des·cant·ed, des·cant·ing, des·cants

  1. To comment at length; discourse: "He used to descant critically on the dishes which had been at table" (James Boswell).

  2. also dis·cant (dĭs'kānt', dĭ-skānt') Music

    1. To sing or play a descant.

    2. To sing melodiously.


[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman descaunt, from Medieval Latin discantus, a refrain : Latin dis-, dis- + Latin cantus, song, from past participle of canere, to sing; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
des'cant'er n.
dis·cant   (dĭs'kānt')   
n.  Variant of descant.
v.   (dĭs'kānt', dĭ-skānt')
Variant of descant.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

descant 
c.1380, from Anglo-Fr. deschaunt, from M.L. discantus "refrain, part-song," from L. dis- "asunder, apart" + cantus "song." Spelling was partly Latinized 16c. Originally "counterpoint;" sense of "talk at length" is first attested 1649.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

discant

(from Latin discantus, "song apart"), countermelody either composed or improvised above a familiar melody. Descant can also refer to an instrument of higher-than-normal pitch, such as a descant recorder. In late medieval music, discantus referred to a particular style of organum featuring one or more countermelodies added to a newly rhythmicized plainsong melody. Discantus in this sense is usually spelled discant in English translation

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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