raga
noun
ra·ga ˈrä-gə 
1
: one of the ancient traditional melodic patterns or modes in Indian music
2
: an improvisation based on a traditional raga compare tala entry 1
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The 11-minute score, inspired by classic Indian music, begins like a raga finding its tones and shortly explodes like an orchestral supernova in a wash of microtones before returning to its quiet origins. 
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2022 The song is stealthily subversive: a traditional raga—the classical Indian framework for musical improvisation—has been laid over an infectious beat that sounds South Asian, Middle Eastern, and, improbably, reggaetón, all at once. Priyanka Mattoo, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022 In the long-limbed first movement, the solo violin traces one idea after another (Adams once compared this to Indian raga) in an ever-evolving, never-ending melody. Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2021 This hypnotic collaboration between Andrew Bird and the collective Lucius offers a blend of the original version's experimental droning sound, old European folk music and Indian raga while touching on themes of submission and S&M. David Chiu, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2021 Tamil south whose heady origins can be traced to the incense-and-raga days of the 1960s. Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 23 July 2021 On a floating stage draped with garlands of marigold and rose petals, the brothers Rajan and Sajan Mishra, both wearing white kurtas and pajamas, sang verses of a meditative, melodious ancient raga as the Ganges River lapped around them. New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021 The raga and rock elements that made their earlier releases so psychedelic remain but with layers of poetry from their fellow downtown artist Jack Walls and audio from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. New York Times, 21 June 2018 What raga is to South Asian music — a system of melodic patterns that also serve broadly as a guide — maqam roughly is to Arab, Turkish and Persian music. New York Times, 19 Apr. 2018 See More
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2022 The song is stealthily subversive: a traditional raga—the classical Indian framework for musical improvisation—has been laid over an infectious beat that sounds South Asian, Middle Eastern, and, improbably, reggaetón, all at once. Priyanka Mattoo, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022 In the long-limbed first movement, the solo violin traces one idea after another (Adams once compared this to Indian raga) in an ever-evolving, never-ending melody. Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2021 This hypnotic collaboration between Andrew Bird and the collective Lucius offers a blend of the original version's experimental droning sound, old European folk music and Indian raga while touching on themes of submission and S&M. David Chiu, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2021 Tamil south whose heady origins can be traced to the incense-and-raga days of the 1960s. Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 23 July 2021 On a floating stage draped with garlands of marigold and rose petals, the brothers Rajan and Sajan Mishra, both wearing white kurtas and pajamas, sang verses of a meditative, melodious ancient raga as the Ganges River lapped around them. New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021 The raga and rock elements that made their earlier releases so psychedelic remain but with layers of poetry from their fellow downtown artist Jack Walls and audio from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. New York Times, 21 June 2018 What raga is to South Asian music — a system of melodic patterns that also serve broadly as a guide — maqam roughly is to Arab, Turkish and Persian music. New York Times, 19 Apr. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Sanskrit rāga, literally, color, tone; akin to Sanskrit rajyati it reddens, Greek rhezein to dye
First Known Use
1788, in the meaning defined at sense 1