Definition of madrigal

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< Madrid

madrilène >

mad·ri·gal    (mdr-gl) KEY  

NOUN:

1. 1. A song for two or three unaccompanied voices, developed in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
   2. A short poem, often about love, suitable for being set to music.
2. 1. A polyphonic song using a vernacular text and written for four to six voices, developed in Italy in the 16th century and popular in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
   2. A part song.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Italian madrigale, probably from dialectal madregal, simple, from Late Latin mtrclis, invented, original, from Latin, of the womb, from mtrx , mtrc-, womb, from mter , mtr-, mother ; see mater

OTHER FORMS:
madri·gal·ist (Noun)

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