descant, discant
(noun) a decorative musical accompaniment (often improvised) added above a basic melody
descant
(verb) talk at great length about something of one’s interest
yodel, warble, descant
(verb) sing by changing register; sing by yodeling; “The Austrians were yodeling in the mountains”
descant
(verb) sing in descant
Source: WordNet® 3.1
descant (plural descants)
A lengthy discourse on a subject.
(music) A counterpoint melody sung or played above the theme
descant (third-person singular simple present descants, present participle descanting, simple past and past participle descanted)
(intransitive) To discuss at length.
(intransitive) To sing or play a descant.
• dancest, decants, scanted, stanced
Source: Wiktionary
Des"cant, n. Etym: [OF. descant, deschant, F. déchant, discant, LL. discantus, fr. L. dis + cantus singing, melody, fr. canere to sing. See Chant, and cf. Descant, v. i., Discant.]
1. (Mus.) (a) Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song. (b) The upper voice in part music. (c) The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble. Grove. Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song. Tyndale. She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung. Milton.
Note: The term has also been used synonymously with counterpoint, or polyphony, which developed out of the French déchant, of the 12th century.
2. A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments. Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant! De Quincey.
Des*cant", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Descanting.] Etym: [From descant; n.; or directly fr. OF. descanter, deschanter; L. dis- + cantare to sing.]
1. To sing a variation or accomplishment.
2. To comment freely; to discourse with fullness and particularity; to discourse at large. A virtuous man should be pleased to find people descanting on his actions. Addison.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 December 2024
(adjective) restricted to a particular condition of life; “an obligate anaerobe can survive only in the absence of oxygen”
Decaffeinated coffee is not caffeine-free. Studies from the National Institute of Health (US) have shown that virtually all decaf coffee types contain caffeine. A 236-ml (8-oz) cup of decaf coffee contains up to 7 mg of caffeine, whereas a regular cup provided 70-140 mg.
