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diaphony

British  
/ daɪˈæfənɪ, ˌdaɪəˈfɒnɪk /

noun

  1. a style of two-part polyphonic singing; organum or a freer form resembling it

  2. (in classical Greece) another word for dissonance Compare symphony

"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

Other Word Forms

  • diaphonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of diaphony

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now and again we find them "throwing back" to the days of Hucbald the Fleming, and running their harmony in a kind of diaphony a fifth below the melody.

From Project Gutenberg

Here we find St. Isidore employing the term diaphony in its original sense, as a Greek word, meaning dissonance—a sense exactly opposite to that of Jean de Muris.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Before this, however, and perhaps for some little time after, there were many organs in use, which were committed to the diaphony of Hucbald, having in place of the diapason three ranks of pipes, speaking an octave and the fifth between.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg