From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdescantdes‧cant /ˈdeskænt/ noun [countable, uncountable] APMa tune that is played or sung above the main tune in a piece of music
Examples from the Corpus
descant• He knows that one card trick is much like another, a descant of deftness that can t be stretched.• And, like a descant, the women.Origin descant (1300-1400) Old North French Latin cantus “song” 