Polyphony

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun Plurality of sounds and articulations expressed by the same vocal sign.

II. Polyphony ·noun Multiplicity of sounds, as in the reverberations of an Echo.

III. Polyphony ·noun 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.