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madrigal

 - 3 dictionary results

mad⋅ri⋅gal

  [mad-ri-guhl]
Use madrigal in a Sentence
–noun
1. a secular part song without instrumental accompaniment, usually for four to six voices, making abundant use of contrapuntal imitation, popular esp. in the 16th and 17th centuries.
2. a lyric poem suitable for being set to music, usually short and often of amatory character, esp. fashionable in the 16th century and later, in Italy, France, England, etc.
3. any part song.
Origin:
1580–90; < It madrigale < ML mātricāle something simple, n. use of neut. of LL mātricālis lit., of the womb. See matrix, -al 1

Related forms:
mad⋅ri⋅gal⋅esque, adjective
mad⋅ri⋅gal⋅i⋅an  [mad-ruh-gal-ee-uhn, -gal-yuhn, -gey-lee-uhn] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To madrigal
mad·ri·gal   (mād'rĭ-gəl)   
n.  

    1. A song for two or three unaccompanied voices, developed in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

    2. A short poem, often about love, suitable for being set to music.

    3. A polyphonic song using a vernacular text and written for four to six voices, developed in Italy in the 16th century and popular in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

    4. A part song.

    1. A polyphonic song using a vernacular text and written for four to six voices, developed in Italy in the 16th century and popular in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

    2. A part song.


[Italian madrigale, probably from dialectal madregal, simple, from Late Latin mātrīcālis, invented, original, from Latin, of the womb, from mātrīx, mātrīc-, womb, from māter, mātr-, mother; see mater.]
mad'ri·gal·ist n.
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

madrigal 
"short love poem," also "part-song for three or more voices," 1588, from It. (Venetian) madregal "simple, ingenuous," from L.L. matricalis "invented, original," lit. "of or from the womb," from matrix (gen. matricis) "womb."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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