plainsong
noun
plainsong is a noun meaning “A form of monophonic chant in unison using the Gregorian scale, sung in various Christian churches” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-L-A-I-N-S-O-N-G and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 18 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of plainsong is plainsongs.
What does plainsong mean?
noun
- 1
A form of monophonic chant in unison using the Gregorian scale, sung in various Christian churches.
- 2
A cantus firmus or theme chosen for contrapuntal treatment; so called because often an actual fragment of plain-song.
- 3
The simple notes of an air, without ornament or variation.
- 4
A plain unvarnished statement, without exaggeration.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce plainsong?
Plainsong has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of plainsong
- plainsongs plural
- plain song
- plain-song
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is plainsong?
Plainsong appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th 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).
Plainsong in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense monophonic chant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plain-chant |
| German | Cantus planus |
| Portuguese | cantochão |
| Spanish | canto llano |
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 plainsong come from?
From plain + song, calque of Latin cantus planus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).