Word.ws English Dictionary

hocket

hocket noun: in medieval music, a rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. A single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.

Noun

hocket (countable and uncountable, plural hockets)

  1. In medieval music, a rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. A single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.
    • Hocket is a contrapuntal technique described by the early fourteenth-century Walter Odington as "A truncation … made over the tenor … in such a way that one voice is always silent while the other sings."1977, Lloyd Ultan, Music theory: problems and practices in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, U of Minnesota Press, page 91
  2. A narrow passageway or opening between buildings, typically designed to facilitate access or movement between separate architectural structures.
  3. Any small gap or opening; often used to describe a narrow space that allows for movement or connection between two areas.

Forms of hocket

pluralhockets
alternative formhoquet

Origin of hocket

From French hoquet (“hiccup”).

Words formed from hocket

Questions about hocket

What does hocket mean?
Hocket means in medieval music, a rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. A single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.
What part of speech is hocket?
Hocket is a noun.
What is the plural of hocket?
The plural of hocket is hockets.

Words near hocket in the dictionary

  1. Hockensmith
  2. Hockensmiths
  3. hocker
  4. Hockerill
  5. hockers
  6. hocket
  7. hocketed
  8. hocketing
  9. hocketor
  10. hocketors
  11. hockets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hocket (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “hocket.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hocket. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.