Meanings
plural parhypates
- musical pitchIn Ancient Greek musical theory, the lower-pitched of the two movable notes in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre, pitched lower than the lichanos and higher than the hypate.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαρυπάτη
- Latinparhypatē
- Englishparhypate
Unadapted borrowing from Latin parhypatē, from Ancient Greek παρυπάτη (parupátē, literally “next to the hypate, next-highest”). The hypate was the "highest" in the sense of being the string on a lyre nearest the player and physically above the other strings (compare a modern guitar, where the low E string is nearest the player), but actually the lowest in pitch.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
parhypate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhypate
“parhypate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhypate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parhypate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parhypate.
Source: parhypate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.