plagal

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: pla=gal

CIDE DICTIONARY

plagal, a. [F., from Gr. pla`gios sidewise, slanting.].

 Having a scale running from the dominant to its octave; -- said of certain old church modes or tunes, as opposed to those called authentic, which ran from the tonic to its octave.  [1913 Webster]

Plagal cadence, a cadence in which the final chord on the tonic is preceded by the chord on the subdominant.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

plagal, adj. Mus. (of a church mode) having sounds between the dominant and its octave (cf. AUTHENTIC).

Idiom

plagal cadence (or close) a cadence in which the chord of the subdominant immediately precedes that of the tonic.

Etymology

med.L plagalis f. plaga plagal mode f. L plagius f. med. Gk plagios (in anc. Gk = oblique) f. Gk plagos side