Descant can be a verb meaning to talk tediously or to sing/play a descant, and a noun referring to a comment or an ornamental melody sung or played above a main melody. It originates from Latin words related to 'song'.
Descant is a verb meaning to talk tediously or to sing/play a descant, and a noun for a comment or an ornamental melody above a basic one. It comes from Latin roots for 'song'.
| Front | descant \DES-kant\ |
|---|---|
| Back | verb 1. To talk tediously. 2. To sing or play a descant. noun 1. A comment on a subject. 2. An ornamental melody sung or played above a basic melody. [From Latin discantus (refrain), from dis- (apart, away) + cantus (song), from canere (to sing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kan- (sing), which also gave us hen, chant, accent, enchant, incentive, recant, cantor, and charm. Earliest documented use: 1380.] "These disappointments were descanted on, bitterly and frequently." - John Gross; Lessons of an Immoderate Master; The New York Review of Books; Jun 26, 1997. |
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