1. descant - Noun
2. descant - Verb
Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song.
The upper voice in part music.
The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble.
A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments.
To sing a variation or accomplishment.
To comment freely; to discourse with fullness and particularity; to discourse at large.
Source: Webster's dictionarySpeech after long silence it is right, All other lovers being estranged or dead ... That we descant and yet again descant Upon the supreme theme of Art and Song Bodily decrepitude is wisdom young We loved each other and were ignorant. William Butler Yeats
The Austrians were yodeling in the mountains Source: Internet
There have also been descant and tenor balalaikas, but these are considered obsolete. Source: Internet
It employs not only the F and B horns, but also a third, descant horn. Source: Internet