Melisma

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /məˈlɪzmə/

Definitions

1. A vocal art form characterized by the use of several pitches to ornament a single syllable in melody
2. A technique in music where multiple notes are applied to one syllable to enhance expressiveness in singing
3. A musical embellishment technique involving the singing of multiple pitches on a single syllable to create decorative vocal phrases

Etymology: Ancient Greek singers had a word for pulling one syllable out over many notes, and English borrowed it for exactly that. "Melisma" comes from Greek "mélisma," meaning "song," which itself grows from the verb "melízō," to sing or modulate a tune. The verb in turn belongs to the family of "mélos," a word that meant "song" or "tune" but also, strikingly, "limb" or "part of the body." The same root gave Greek speakers a way to describe a melody as something with parts, much as a limb is a part of a whole. In English, the word is a technical term from music, used for a passage where a single syllable of text is sung across a run of several pitches. It is most often heard in religious chant and in the florid ornamentation of later vocal music, where a single word such as "Alleluia" might stretch over dozens of notes. The word keeps its Greek sense of song intact, and its sense of stretching a single syllable across several notes is the musical application that English speakers recognise.