Derring
(Der"ring), a. Daring or warlike. [Obs.]
Drad for his derring doe and bloody deed.
Spenser. Derringer
(Der"rin*ger) n. [From the American inventor.] A kind of short-barreled pocket pistol, of very
large caliber, often carrying a half-ounce ball.
Derth
(Derth) n. Dearth; scarcity. [Obs.] Spenser.
Dertrotheca
(||Der`tro*the"ca) n. [NL., fr. Gr. beak + box, case.] (Zoöl.) The horny covering of the end
of the bill of birds.
Dervish
(Der"vish Der"vise Der"vis) n. [Per. derwesch, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life.
Derworth
(Der"worth) a. [AS. deórwurþe, lit., dearworth.] Precious. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.
Descant
(Des"cant) n. [OF. descant, deschant, F. déchant, discant, LL. discantus, fr. L. dis + cantus
singing, melody, fr. canere to sing. See Chant, and cf. Descant, v. i., Discant.]
1. (Mus.) (a) 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. (b) The upper
voice in part music. (c) The canto, cantus, or soprano voice; the treble. Grove.
Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song.
Tyndale.
She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung.
Milton. The term has also been used synonymously with counterpoint, or polyphony, which developed out of the
French déchant, of the 12th century.
2. A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments.
Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant!
De Quincey. Descant
(Des*cant") v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Descanting.] [From descant;
n.; or directly fr. OF. descanter, deschanter; L. dis- + cantare to sing.]
1. To sing a variation or accomplishment.
