Descant

n. [O. Fr. deschant, N. Fr. déchant, dis-cant, Sp. discante, L. Lat. discantus, from Lat. dis and cantus, singing, melody. In Pr. deschans is criticism, parody, and deschantar to blame, Sp. discantar, to chant or sing, to compose or recite verses, to discourse copiously, to quaver upon a note.] 1. A variation of an air. Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song. Tyndale. She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung. Milton. 2. A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments. Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant! De Quincey. 3. (Mus.) (a.) The highest part in a score; the soprano. (b.) A composition in parts, or the art of composing in parts. [Written also discant.] Double descant, a kind of composition involving inversion or interchange of parts; — called also double counterpoint. — Figurative descant, a piece of music which admits of discords. — Plain descant, a composition which consists of concords only, answering to simple counterpoint.