Discants

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Speaks or writes at great length on a topic ; sings or plays a higher melody that accompanies a main tune
2. Holds forth extensively about a subject ; performs an ornamental upper part over a principal melody in music
3. Expounds at length on a theme ; renders a descant, the treble melody sung or played above the main air

Etymology: "Discants" is the plural of "discant," a noun for a melodic line sung or played above the basic tune in medieval and Renaissance polyphony. The noun is borrowed from Medieval Latin "discantus," which was itself formed from "dis-," meaning apart, and "cantus," meaning song. The sense is literal: a part that sings apart from the main melody, like a second voice diverging from the first. The word has a close twin in English. "Descant" comes from the same Latin source, and the two forms are doublets, meaning two words that entered the language by different routes and ended up looking and sounding different. "Discant" preserved the Latin spelling more closely, while "descant" reflects a later shaping of the same material, so the pair shows how one Latin word can enter English twice.

Synonyms: descant, harmony