18 March 2015

descant

[n., adj. des-kant; v. des-kant, dis-]

noun
1. Music.
a melody or counterpoint accompanying a simple musical theme and usually written above it.
(in part music) the soprano.
a song or melody.
2. a variation upon anything; comment on a subject.
adjective
3. Music ( chiefly British)
soprano:
a descant recorder.
treble:
a descant viol.
verb (used without object)
4. Music. to sing.
5. to comment or discourse at great length.

Also, discant.

Origin
Middle English, Anglo-French, Medieval Latin
1350-1400; Middle English discant, descaunt < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin discanthus, equivalent to Latin dis- dis-1+ cantus song; see chant

Related forms
descanter, noun

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for descant
– Shakes his bright plumes, and trills his descant free.
– Plan an accompaniment such as a descant or rhythmic part to be used in performance of repertoire.
– Most stagecoach drivers liked to descant to the customers, but in a vein of bold invention.

Anagram

cast end
send cat

Today’s aphorism

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

18 March 1922 – Mahatma Gandhi sentenced to six years imprisonment by an Indian court for civil disobedience against the British Empire, which included boycotting British made goods. He ended up serving two years.

18 March 1965 – Russian cosmonaut, Lt Col Alexei Leonov becomes the first man to walk in space, when he exits his spacecraft for a short ‘walk’, which included a somersault.