Melisma (
Greek: μέλισμα,
melisma, song, air, melody; from μέλος,
melos, song, melody),
plural melismata, in
music, is the singing of a single
syllable of
text while moving between several different
notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as
melismatic, as opposed to
syllabic, in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note.