Meanings
nounmelism (plural melisms)
plural melisms
- alternativeAlternative form of melisma (“passage of multiple notes for a single syllable”).
In the case of two notes in a row, the patterns are often the effect of melisma, the second note of a melism anticipating the note for the next syllable (or the first note of a melism for the next syllable).
2011, Charles H. Cosgrove, An Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786: Text and Commentary, →ISBN, page 101
Cite this entry
APA
melism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melism
MLA
“melism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “melism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melism.
Source: melism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.