vocalise

¹

[ voh-kuh-leez ]

noun

1. a musical composition consisting of the singing of melody with vowel sounds or nonsense syllables rather than text, as for special effect in classical compositions, in polyphonic jazz singing by special groups, or in virtuoso vocal exercises.
2. any such singing exercise or vocalized melody.

vocalise

²

[ voh-kuh-lahyz ]

verb (used with or without object)

, vo·cal·ised, vo·cal·is·ing.

1. Chiefly British. vocalize.

vocalise

/ ˌvəʊkəˈliːz /

noun

1. a musical passage sung upon one vowel as an exercise to develop flexibility and control of pitch and tone; solfeggio

Word History and Origins

Origin of vocalise¹

1870–75; < French vocalise, apparently noun derivative of vocaliser to vocalize, with -ise taken as a noun suffix ( -ise ² )

Example Sentences

I think probably what a lot of women felt is that it just vocalised the problem that lots of us have been saying for a long time.

From BBC

The set of vocalised coda types combined with how frequently they are used makes up a vocal repertoire and define membership in a particular clan.

From Science Daily

The SNP and some Conservative MPs are expected to further vocalise their unhappiness with the speaker at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

From BBC

Adaptations to oboe abound, including from wordless vocalises by Ravel, Messiaen and Saint-Saëns.

From New York Times

"In this study, we used recordings of chickens vocalising in all different scenarios from a previous experiment," Professor Henning said.

From Science Daily