polyphony

/pəˈlɪfəni/

//pəˈlɪfəni// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"polyphony" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“polyphony” is uncommon English (frequency #66,206 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,206
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).

Key facts for polyphony
PropertyValue
Headwordpolyphony
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈlɪfəni/
Letters9
Frequency rank#66,206
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “polyphony” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). polyphony lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

polyphony is uncommon English at frequency #66,206 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pəˈlɪfəni/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for polyphony, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυφωνία (poluphōnía); equivalent to poly- + -phony. The correct English form is polyphony, spelled P-O-L-Y-P-H-O-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
  2. 2
    The quality of a text of being able to be read in more than one way.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυφωνία (poluphōnía); equivalent to poly- + -phony.

This word in other languages

polifonía(Español)polyphonie(Français)polifonia(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "polyphony"?
"polyphony" is spelled P-O-L-Y-P-H-O-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈlɪfəni/.
What does "polyphony" mean?
As a noun, "polyphony" means: Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).
How do you pronounce "polyphony"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "polyphony" is /pəˈlɪfəni/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "polyphony"?
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυφωνία (poluphōnía); equivalent to poly- + -phony. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “polyphony”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-O-L-Y-P-H-O-N-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /pəˈlɪfəni/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list