ˈplain-ˈchant
[a. F. plain chant: see plain-song.]
= plain-song, canto fermo (in both senses of these). Also attrib.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Chant, The Plain, or Gregorian chant, is where the choir and people sing in unison, or all together in the same manner. 1887 E. L. Taunton Hist. Ch. Mus. 124 In some of the old Plain Chant Masses one finds sometimes 200 notes to one syllable! 1895 C. F. A. Williams in Elem. Plainsong 30 The artistic intertwining of various melodies above and below the fixed notes of the cantus firmus or Plain chant. |
Hence ˈplain-ˌchantist, an advocate of plain-chant.
| 1888 S. H. Little in Dublin Rev. Jan. 112 The ‘Plain Chantist’, therefore, is not inconsistent or unreasonable. |