polyphonic
[pol-ee-fon-ik]
- consisting of many voices or sounds.
- Music.
- having two or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing; contrapuntal (opposed to homophonic).
- pertaining to music of this kind.
- capable of producing more than one tone at a time, as an organ or a harp.
- Phonetics. having more than one phonetic value, as the letter s, that is voiced (z) in nose and unvoiced (s) in salt.
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Origin of polyphonic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for polyphonic
Contemporary Examples
It runs as a polyphonic symphony compared to the simple percussion section of the heart or the synchronized cellos of the liver.
Historical Examples
He is not polyphonic,—to borrow a musical metaphor,—but monophonie.
IconoclastsJames Huneker
The tune is distinctly in the modern key of G major, and it is not polyphonic.
How Music DevelopedW. J. Henderson
The polyphonic writing is matchless in its evenness; every part is as good as every other part.
How Music DevelopedW. J. Henderson
We have seen how it grew out of organ playing and was at first polyphonic.
How Music DevelopedW. J. Henderson
A few themes with polyphonic variations filled his simple life.
UnicornsJames Huneker
polyphonic
- music composed of relatively independent melodic lines or parts; contrapuntal
- many-voiced
- phonetics of, relating to, or denoting a polyphone
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for polyphonic
adj.
1782, formed in English from Greek polyphonos (see polyphony).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper