: a polyphonic choral composition on a sacred text usually without instrumental accompaniment
Examples of motet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The service and concert will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at the church, 815 S. Washington St.
Castle Singers are vocalists who perform a variety of chamber repertoire, varying from Renaissance madrigals and motets to contemporary pop and vocal jazz.
—
Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025
Her husband, my grandfather, was not only a composer who wrote liturgical music, motets, symphonies, and string quartets but also a beloved music teacher who believed that music was as crucial to the development of the mind as math.
—Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2024
Repetition with fidelity led, with the aid of print, to longer organized forms such as the motet, a vocal music composition, and the conductus, a Latin song with a rhythmic structure.
—Lynn Whidden, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
According to Francisco, the composers represented no less than 30 print collections of solo songs, cantatas, motets, polyphonic works, settings for psalms and masses, a magnificat, a vespers service, a dozen sonatas, and scores for nine operas and other staged works.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for motet
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025
Her husband, my grandfather, was not only a composer who wrote liturgical music, motets, symphonies, and string quartets but also a beloved music teacher who believed that music was as crucial to the development of the mind as math.
—Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2024
Repetition with fidelity led, with the aid of print, to longer organized forms such as the motet, a vocal music composition, and the conductus, a Latin song with a rhythmic structure.
—Lynn Whidden, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
According to Francisco, the composers represented no less than 30 print collections of solo songs, cantatas, motets, polyphonic works, settings for psalms and masses, a magnificat, a vespers service, a dozen sonatas, and scores for nine operas and other staged works.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for motet
Cite this Entry
“Motet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motet. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
motet
noun
mo·tet
mō-ˈtet 
: a form of church music to be sung by several voices usually without accompanying instruments and with several melodies woven together
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share