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Webster 1913 Edition
Polyphony
Po-lyph′o-ny
,Noun.
[Gr. [GREEK].]
1.
Multiplicity of sounds, as in the reverberations of an echo.
2.
Plurality of sounds and articulations expressed by the same vocal sign.
3.
(Mus.)
Composition in mutually related, equally important parts which share the melody among them; contrapuntal composition; – opposed to homophony, in which the melody is given to one part only, the others filling out the harmony. See
Counterpoint
.