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diaphony

noun music
  1. a style of two-part polyphonic singing; organum or a freer form resembling it
  2. (in classical Greece) another word for dissonance (def. 3) Compare symphony (def. 5a)
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Derived Formsdiaphonic (ˌdaɪəˈfɒnɪk), adjective

Word Origin for diaphony

C17: from Late Latin diaphōnia, from Greek, from diaphōnos discordant, from dia- + phōnē sound
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

Examples from the Web for diaphony

Historical Examples of diaphony

  • He mentions organum and diaphony, and remarks that he finds the succession of fifths and fourths very tiresome.

    A Popular History of the Art of Music

    W. S. B. Mathews

  • This question appears to have led to the practice of what Hucbald called "diaphony."

  • He called his system an “organum” or “diaphony,” and to sing according to his rules was called to “organize” or “organate.”