paramese

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noun

In Ancient Greek musical theory, the lowest-pitched fixed note in the farther tetrachord on a lyre, always pitched a perfect fourth below the nete, with two movable notes between them, the trite (lower in pitch) and the paranete (higher in pitch). The paramese was higher-pitched than the mese (the highest-pitched fixed note in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre) by a ratio of 9:8.

OriginLatin paramesē ← Ancient Greek παραμέση →
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Meanings

nounparamese (plural parameses)

plural parameses

  1. musical pitchIn Ancient Greek musical theory, the lowest-pitched fixed note in the farther tetrachord on a lyre, always pitched a perfect fourth below the nete, with two movable notes between them, the trite (lower in pitch) and the paranete (higher in pitch). The paramese was higher-pitched than the mese (the highest-pitched fixed note in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre) by a ratio of 9:8.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπαραμέση
  2. Latinparamesē
  3. Englishparamese

Unadapted borrowing from Latin paramesē, from Ancient Greek παραμέση (paramésē, literally “next to the middle [string]”).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

paramese. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paramese

MLA

“paramese.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paramese. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paramese,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paramese.

Source: paramese on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.