Etymologically
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discantus

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Forms

discantus m (genitive discantūs); fourth declension[1] It is also declined in the second declension.[2] Variant spellings include descantus and decentus.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- (“apart”) + cantus (“song, singing”), a Medieval Latin term of music.[3][4][1] cantus is from canō (“to sing”),[4][5] which de Vaan traces back to Proto-Italic *kan-e(je)- and Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”), noting that there is no agreement on the root's form.[5] Medieval theorists explained the word themselves: Odington says it is so called as being of at least two melodies.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in an anonymous 12th-century treatise on music edited by La Fage,[1][3] which says that discant is one thing and organum another, and that the discant must move against the chant: when the chant rises, the discant should fall.[1]

Semantic evolution

In the theory of measured music, John of Garland names it as one of the three kinds of organum, beside copula and organum proper, and defines it as the concord of several different melodies according to a rhythmic mode.[1][6] It came to mean polyphonic singing in general and the polyphonic mensural composition,[1][2][7] and also the upper voice set against the chant, the soprano.[7][1][2] Du Cange reports that Pope John XXII forbade singing with discantus in the canonical hours and the Mass.[8] Statutes of 1415 required clerics to sing plainchant and discant,[6] and a Silesian document of 1484 has the Ave Regina sung with tenor, discant and contratenor.[9]

English took it over about 1400 as descant, through Anglo-French ⟨deschaunt⟩;[4] from the 1560s the English word also meant the upper part or voice.[4]

Timeline

  • 12th century – An anonymous treatise sets it against organum.[1][3]
  • c. 1400 – English borrows it, through Anglo-French, as descant.[4]
  • 1415 – Statutes require clerics to sing plainchant and discant.[6]
  • 1484 – A Silesian document names the discant beside tenor and contratenor.[9]
  • 1560s – The English word is used for the upper voice.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (music) Polyphonic singing, part-song; composition in discant style, as distinct from organum.[1][7][2]
  2. (music) The upper voice set against the chant; descant, soprano.[7][1][2][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ a b c d e Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson