undersongn.
1. A subordinate or subdued song or strain, esp. one serving as an accompaniment or burden to another. Frequently transferred of natural sounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > a song > [noun] > undersong
undersong1579
faburden1587
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Aug. 128 And Willye is not greatly ouergone, So weren his vndersongs well addrest.
?1606 M. Drayton Eglog ix, in Poemes sig. G3v When now at last..Was poynted who the Roundelay shoold singe And who againe the vndersong should beare.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. iii. 77 He thus began..To prayse his Loue: his hasty waues among The frothed Rockes, bearing the Under-song.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 13 The challenge to Damætas shall belong, Menalcas shall sustain his under Song.
1710 A. Philips Pastorals vi. 8 As eldest, Hobbinol, begin; And Languet's Under-Song by Turns come in.
1796 S. T. Coleridge To Author of Poems 24 Th'unceasing rill..Murmurs sweet undersong 'mid jasmin bowers.
1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 39 While fluent Greek a vowel'd undersong Kept up among the guests.
1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Shellbacks 196 The hoarse undersong from the dim distance.
2. figurative. An underlying meaning; an undertone.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > implied meaning > [noun] > instance of
implicative1589
subintelligitur1612
subintelligence1631
undersong1631
deuteroscopy1646
implication1657
subauditur1702
undermeaning1841
implial1846
more than meets the eye (also ear)1853
under-sense1859
overtone1869
implicate1881
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature xviii. 326 Which is still as the conclusive undersong to the discanting of my larger Ditty.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 183 Iobs sorrowfull Messengers make it their under song of sad tidings.
1818 J. Keats Let. in Wks. (1889) III. 141 If there is any fault in the Preface it is not affectation, but an undersong of disrespect to the public.
1886 H. Caine Son of Hagar ii. xv Beneath the chorus of their hearts' joy there was an undersong of discord.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1579