parhypate

Meanings

1. In Ancient Greek musical theory, the lower-pitched of the two movable notes in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre, pitched lower than the lichanos and higher than the hypate.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin parhypatē, from Ancient Greek παρυπάτη (parupátē, literally “next to the hypate, next-highest”). The hypate was the "highest" in the sense of being the string on a lyre nearest the player and physically above the other strings (compare a modern guitar, where the low E string is nearest the player), but actually the lowest in pitch.