descant
/ˈdɛskænt/noun, verb
descant is spelled D-E-S-C-A-N-T: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 125,655th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, descant means “A lengthy discourse on a subject” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of descant is descants.
How many letters and syllables are in descant?
| Letters | 7: D-E-S-C-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 125,655th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is descant?
Descant appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 125,655th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce descant?
- UK /ˈdɛskænt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-descant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of descant
- descants plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- descanting participle, present
- descanted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does descant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A lengthy discourse on a subject.
- 2
A counterpoint melody sung or played above the theme.
verb
- 1
To discuss at length.
Involving some interesting, intellectual trips, she was descanting lightly to right and left.
- 2
To sing or play a descant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Descant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does descant come from?
From Anglo-Norman descaunt, from Medieval Latin discantus. Doublet of discant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).