polyphony

English

Etymology

From poly- +‎ -phony.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈlɪfəni/

Noun

polyphony (countable and uncountable, plural polyphonies)

1. (music) Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
2. The quality of a text of being capable of being read in more than one way.

   the polyphony of a biblical passage

Derived terms

• polyphonic

Translations

musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices

• French: polyphonie (fr) f
• German: Mehrstimmigkeit f
• Greek: πολυφωνία (el) f (polyfonía)
• Icelandic: fjölröddun f, pólýfónía f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: polifonie (ro) f
• Russian: полифони́я (ru) f (polifoníja), многоголо́сие (ru) n (mnogogolósije)
• Slovene: polifonija f
• Spanish: polifonía f

See also

• organum
• heterophony