melism

English

Noun

melism (plural melisms)

1. Alternative form of melisma (“passage of multiple notes for a single syllable”)
   • 2011, Charles H. Cosgrove, An Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786: Text and Commentary, →ISBN, page 101:

     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).