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motet

[moh-tet]

noun

Music.
  1. a vocal composition in polyphonic style, on a Biblical or similar prose text, intended for use in a church service.



motet

/ məʊˈtɛt /

noun

  1. a polyphonic choral composition used as an anthem in the Roman Catholic service

“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of motet1

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French; mot, -et
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Word History and Origins

Origin of motet1

C14: from Old French, diminutive of mot word; see mot 1
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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.

Instead, there were small pieces, quite a few by little-known composers, along with Bruckner motets, bits of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and Bernstein.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The focus is on the Virgin Mary’s special role in the Nativity story, as in a new arrangement of a Renaissance motet by the Portuguese Vicente Lusitano, the first known, published Black composer.

Read more on Seattle Times

In the 1970s, musicology was still largely focused on reviving obscure motets and analyzing Central European masterworks.

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Much of the music closest to Marshall’s heart was sacred: New England shape-note songs, Bruckner motets, the gamelan music of Java and Bali.

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I sang him as a boy chorister, but it was random motets scattered throughout the year, and he felt like more of a niche composer than a meat-and-potatoes figure.

Read more on New York Times

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