mu·sic (my  z k)n.1. The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. 2. Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm. 3. a. A musical composition. b. The written or printed score for such a composition. c. Such scores considered as a group: We keep our music in a stack near the piano. 4. A musical accompaniment. 5. A particular category or kind of music. 6. An aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound or combination of sounds: the music of the wind in the pines.
[Middle English, from Old French musique, from Latin m sica, from Greek mousik (tekhn), (art) of the Muses, feminine of mousikos, of the Muses, from Mousa, Muse; see men-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
music Noun
1. an art form consisting of sequences of sounds organized melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically
2. such sounds, esp. when produced by singing or musical instruments
3. any written or printed representation of musical sounds: I can't read music
4. any sequence of sounds perceived as pleasing or harmonious
5. face the music Informal to confront the consequences of one's actions
6. music to one's ears something, such as a piece of news, that one is pleased to hear [Greek mousikē (tekhnē) (art) in the protection of the Muses]
Musicthe theory that accent within a musical phrase can also be expressed by modifying the duration of certain notes rather than only by modifying dynamic stress. — agogic, adj.
1. the composition of music without a definite key; dodecaphony.
2. the music so written. Also atonality. — atonalist, n. — atonal, atonalistic, adj.
1. the techniques of choral singing.
2. the composition of music for chorus illustrative of a cognizance of choral techniques and the possibilities and limitations of choral singing. — choralistic, adj.
the use of the chromatic scale or chromatic halftones in musical compositions. Cf. diatonicism.
a performer on an ancient Greek form of lyre called a cithara.
1. a composer of music employing counterpoint figures, as fugues.
2. a performer of music employing counterpoint figures. Also contrapuntalist.
the use of the diatonic scale of five whole tones and two halftones in the composition of music. Also diatonism. Cf. chromaticism.
the composition of music employing the twelvetone scale. Also called dodecatonality, atonality. — dodecaphonist, n. — dodecaphonic, adj.
a short hymn expressing praise to God. — doxological, adj.
1. the study of the music of a particular region or people from the viewpoint of its social or cultural implications.
2. the comparative study of the music of more than one such region or people. — ethnomusicologist, n.
1. the composition of fugues.
2. the performance of fugues. — fuguist, n.
a performer on the viola da gamba.
Obsolete, a person versed in Gregorian chant. Also called Gregorian.
a person skilled in the principles of harmony. See also
literature1. music in which one voice carries the melody, sometimes with a ehord accompaniment.
2. Obsolete, unison. Also called monody, monophony. — homophonous, adj.
1. the singing of hymns; hymnology.
2. the composition of hymns.
3. a study of hymns and their composers.
4. the preparation of expository material and bibliographies concerning hymns; hymnography. — hymnodist, n.
the act or art of playing the lyre. — lyrist, n.
the branch of music theory that deals with melody.
a person who composes or sings melodies.
the writing of romantic, sensational stage plays interspersed with songs and orchestral music. — melodramatist, n. — melodramatic, adj.
an abnormal liking for music and melody. — melomaniac, n., adj. — melomane, n.
an instrument for marking time in music, producing regular ticking sounds at a variety of settings. — metronomic, metronomical, adj.
1. the art of minstrels.
2. their occupation.
3. a group of minstrels.
4. a collection of their music and songs.
1. music composed of a single melody with no accompaniment or harmony. Cf. homophony, polyphony.
2. monody. — monophonic, adj.
the science of musical notation.
the scholarly and scientific study of music, as in historical research, theory of composition, etc. — musicologist, n. — musicological, adj.
a mania for music.
a music lover.
an intense dislike of music.
a juke-box, record-player, or player piano operated by the insertion of a nickel or other coin. See also
films.
a performer on the ophicleide, an instrument, developed from the wooden serpent in the brass section of the orchestra.
1. the composition of music using all seven notes of the diatonic scale in a manner free from classical harmonie restrictions.
2. the music written in this style. — pandiatonic, adj.
the technique of playing the piano. — pianist, n. — pianistic, adj.
a humorous performance at the piano, sometimes with a verbal accompaniment by the performer.
the combination of a number of separate but harmonizing melodies, as in a fugue. Cf. homophony. — polyphonic, polyphonous, adj.
the practice of using combinations of notes from two or more keys in writing musical compositions. Also polytonality. — polytonalist, n. — polytonal, adj.
1. the art, practice, or act of singing psalms in worship services.
2. a collection of psalms. — psalmodist, n. — psalmodial, psalmodie, psalmodical, adj.
any series of four related works, literary, dramatic, operatic, etc.
song, musical composition, or literary work created to honor or commemorate the dead; a funeral song. — threnodist, n. — threnodic, adj.
a composer who pays special attention to the tonal qualities of music. See also
art.
the artistic use of commonplace, everyday, and contemporary material in opera, especially some 20th-century Italian and French works, as Louise. — verist, n., adj. — veristic, adj.
1. the musical theory and practice of Richard Wagner, characterized by coordination of all musical and dramatic components, use of the leitmotif, and departure from the conventions of earlier Italian opera.
2. influence or imitation of Wagner’s style. — Wagnerian, n., adj.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous mannertransposition - (music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest" recapitulation - (music) the repetition of themes introduced earlier (especially when one is composing the final part of a movement) tuning - (music) calibrating something (an instrument or electronic circuit) to a standard frequency soundboard, sounding board - (music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument stop - (music) a knob on an organ that is pulled to change the sound quality from the organ pipes; "the organist pulled out all the stops" string - a tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, which makes sound when plucked, struck, or bowed synthesiser, synthesizer - (music) an electronic instrument (usually played with a keyboard) that generates and modifies sounds electronically and can imitate a variety of other musical instruments unison - (music) two or more sounds or tones at the same pitch or in octaves; "singing in unison" registration - (music) the sound property resulting from a combination of organ stops used to perform a particular piece of music; the technique of selecting and adjusting organ stops timbre, tone, quality, timber - (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet" crescendo - (music) a gradual increase in loudness fermata - (music) a prolongation of unspecified length on a note or chord or rest register - (music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments pyrotechnics - (music) brilliance of display (as in the performance of music) music - (music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds) section, subdivision - a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical); "he always turns first to the business section"; "the history of this work is discussed in the next section" section, subdivision - a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical); "he always turns first to the business section"; "the history of this work is discussed in the next section" inscription, dedication - a short message (as in a book or musical work or on a photograph) dedicating it to someone or something exposition - (music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur sheet music - a musical composition in printed or written form; "she turned the pages of the music as he played" musical scale, scale - (music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave) tucket, fanfare, flourish - (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments; "he entered to a flourish of trumpets"; "her arrival was greeted with a rousing fanfare" swoop, slide - (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale; "the violinist was indulgent with his swoops and slides" gamut - the entire scale of musical notes roulade - (music) an elaborate run of several notes sung to one syllable |
| 2. | music - any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds; "he fell asleep to the music of the wind chimes"transcribe - rewrite or arrange a piece of music for an instrument or medium other than that originally intended |
| 3. | music - musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest"activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" intonation - the production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations percussion - the act of playing a percussion instrument vocal music - music that is vocalized (as contrasted with instrumental music) whistling - the act of whistling a tune; "his cheerful whistling indicated that he enjoyed his work" music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner interlude - perform an interlude; "The guitar player interluded with a beautiful improvisation" scamp - perform hastily and carelessly sight-read, sightread - perform music from a score without having seen the score before; "He is a brilliant pianist but he cannot sightread" concertise, concertize - give concerts; perform in concerts; "My niece is off concertizing in Europe" jazz - play something in the style of jazz rag - play in ragtime; "rag that old tune" play - perform music on (a musical instrument); "He plays the flute"; "Can you play on this old recorder?" register - manipulate the registers of an organ skirl - play the bagpipes tweedle - play negligently on a musical instrument pipe - play on a pipe; "pipe a tune" slur - play smoothly or legato; "the pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata" pedal - operate the pedals on a keyboard instrument bang out - play loudly; "They banged out `The star-spangled banner'" play along, accompany, follow - perform an accompaniment to; "The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano" modulate - change the key of, in music; "modulate the melody" bow - play on a string instrument with a bow sing - produce tones with the voice; "She was singing while she was cooking"; "My brother sings very well" psalm - sing or celebrate in psalms; "He psalms the works of God" minstrel - celebrate by singing, in the style of minstrels solmizate - sing using syllables like `do', `re' and `mi' to represent the tones of the scale; "The voice teacher showed the students how to solmizate" sing - deliver by singing; "Sing Christmas carols" troll - sing the parts of (a round) in succession carol - sing carols; "They went caroling on Christmas Day" madrigal - sing madrigals; "The group was madrigaling beautifully" drum - play a percussion instrument harp - play the harp; "She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully" conduct, direct, lead - lead, as in the performance of a composition; "conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years" conduct - lead musicians in the performance of; "Bernstein conducted Mahler like no other conductor"; "she cannot conduct modern pieces" |
| 4. | music - (music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds)piano music - the sound of music produced by a piano; "he thought he heard piano music next door" music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner syncopate - modify the rhythm by stressing or accenting a weak beat key - regulate the musical pitch of tongue - articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments |
| 5. | music - punishment for one's actions; "you have to face the music"; "take your medicine" |
music noun
Translations
music [ˈmjuːzɪk] n →
música
music [ˈmjuːzɪk] n →
musique f
music [ˈmjuːzɪk] n →
Musik f;
(written music, score) → Noten pl
music [ˈmjuːzɪk] n →
musica
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