mordent Hear it!

mordent definition

mor·dent (môr′dənt)

noun

Music an ornament made by a single rapid alternation of a principal tone with a subsidiary tone a half step or whole step below: in a double mordent there are two alternations: in an inverted mordent the subsidiary tone is a half step or whole step above the principal tone

Etymology: Ger < It mordente, prp. of mordere < L, to bite: see mordant

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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