gregorian chant

3 definitions found

gregorian chant - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gregorian \Gre*go"ri*an\, a. [NL. Gregorianus, fr. Gregorius
     Gregory, Gr. ?: cf. F. gr['e]gorien.]
     Pertaining to, or originated by, some person named Gregory,
     especially one of the popes of that name.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Gregorian calendar, the calendar as reformed by Pope
        Gregory XIII. in 1582, including the method of adjusting
        the leap years so as to harmonize the civil year with the
        solar, and also the regulation of the time of Easter and
        the movable feasts by means of epochs. See Gregorian  year
         (below).
  
     Gregorian chant (Mus.), plain song, or canto fermo, a kind
        of unisonous music, according to the eight celebrated
        church modes, as arranged and prescribed by Pope Gregory
        I. (called "the Great") in the 6th century.
  
     Gregorian modes, the musical scales ordained by Pope
        Gregory the Great, and named after the ancient Greek
        scales, as Dorian, Lydian, etc.
  
     Gregorian telescope (Opt.), a form of reflecting telescope,
        named from Prof. James Gregory, of Edinburgh, who
        perfected it in 1663. A small concave mirror in the axis
        of this telescope, having its focus coincident with that
        of the large reflector, transmits the light received from
        the latter back through a hole in its center to the
        eyepiece placed behind it.
  
     Gregorian year, the year as now reckoned according to the
        Gregorian calendar. Thus, every year, of the current
        reckoning, which is divisible by 4, except those divisible
        by 100 and not by 400, has 366 days; all other years have
        365 days. See Bissextile, and Note under Style, n., 7.
        [1913 Webster]

  Chant \Chant\, n. [F. chant, fr. L. cantus singing, song, fr.
     canere to sing. See Chant, v. t.]
     1. Song; melody.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mus.) A short and simple melody, divided into two parts
        by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung
        or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A psalm, etc., arranged for chanting.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Twang; manner of speaking; a canting tone. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His strange face, his strange chant.  --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Ambrosian chant, See under Ambrosian.
  
     Chant royal [F.], in old French poetry, a poem containing
        five strophes of eleven lines each, and a concluding
        stanza. -- each of these six parts ending with a common
        refrain.
  
     Gregorian chant. See under Gregorian.
        [1913 Webster]

gregorian chant - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Gregorian chant
      n 1: a liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church [syn:
           plainsong, plainchant, Gregorian chant]