madrigal

[ mad-ri-guhl ]

noun

1. a secular part song without instrumental accompaniment, usually for four to six voices, making abundant use of contrapuntal imitation, popular especially in the 16th and 17th centuries.
2. a lyric poem suitable for being set to music, usually short and often of amatory character, especially fashionable in the 16th century and later, in Italy, France, England, etc.
3. any part song.

madrigal

/ ˌmædrɪˈɡælɪən; ˈmædrɪɡəl; -ˈɡeɪ- /

noun

1. music a type of 16th- or 17th-century part song for unaccompanied voices with an amatory or pastoral text Compare glee
2. a 14th-century Italian song, related to a pastoral stanzaic verse form

Derived Forms

• madrigalian, adjective
• ˈmadrigalˌesque, adjective
• ˈmadrigalist, noun

Other Words From

• madri·gal·esque adjective
• mad·ri·gal·i·an [mad-r, uh, -, gal, -ee-, uh, n, -, gal, -y, uh, n, -, gey, -lee-, uh, n], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of madrigal¹

1580–90; < Italian madrigale < Medieval Latin mātricāle something simple, noun use of neuter of Late Latin mātricālis literally, of the womb. See matrix, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of madrigal¹

C16: from Italian, from Medieval Latin mātricāle primitive, apparently from Latin mātrīcālis of the womb, from matrīx womb

Example Sentences

The new book majors on mortality, and not just with Mrs. Madrigal.

From The Daily Beast

The Days of Anna Madrigal really is the last Tales novel, Maupin insists.

From The Daily Beast

Cast: David Walton, Minnie Driver, Benjamin Stockham, Al Madrigal, Leslie Bibb.

From The Daily Beast

She sat down at the spinet and played a little madrigal by Orlando Gibbons that was associated with her earliest childhood.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps she would soon be down—should he write the madrigal he had promised her?

From Project Gutenberg

Every man tried his hand at verses, and learned to sing a madrigal, and tinkle the accompaniment with his own fingers.

From Project Gutenberg

These were days when the proa went shouting across the empty southern seas to madrigal and choric song.

From Project Gutenberg

She seemed to belong rightly to a madrigal—to require viewing through rhyme and harmony.

From Project Gutenberg