‖ hypate Anc. Gr. Music.
(ˈhɪpətiː)
[L. hypatē, a. Gr. ὑπάτη (sc. χορδή chord) uppermost string, fem. of ὕπατος uppermost, last. Cf. F. hypate.]
The name of the lowest tone in the lowest two tetrachords of ancient Greek music.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1254 It appeareth also manifestly, by the Hypates, that it was not for ignorance that in the Dorian tunes they forbade this Tetrachord. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. ix. (1701) 386/1 The gravest sound in the diapason concord, is called Hypate; because ὕπατον signifieth highest. |