polyphony Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun music arranged in parts for several voices or instruments
polyphonic music; concerted music.

Gr. .

Multiplicity of sounds, as in the reverberations of an echo.
Plurality of sounds and articulations expressed by the same vocal sign.
(Mus.) Composition in mutually related, equally important parts which share the melody among them; contrapuntal composition; -- opposed to homophony, in which the melody is given to one part only, the others filling out the harmony. See Counterpoint.