Melismata

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A musical embellishment involving the singing of multiple notes for a single syllable
2. a decorative phrase in vocal music enhancing the emotional expression
3. a technique often used in various genres to add complexity and ornamentation to melodies

Etymology: "Melismata" is simply the plural of "melisma", so it names several of the ornamental strings of notes sung over a single syllable. The singular comes from Ancient Greek "mélisma", meaning "song", which was itself formed from "melízō", "I sing or modulate", a verb built on "mélos", a word for song, tune or melody. The Greek "mélos" also meant "limb" or "part", a sense that shows how closely the ancients linked a musical phrase to a segment of a whole. The Greek plural is "mélismata", which English has kept in its Latinised form, so the word follows the same pattern as other borrowed plurals such as "stigmata" and "dogmata".

Synonyms: melisma