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Glite Dictionary
vox humana

vox humana

9.9
A part of a pipe organ that makes a warm sound like a human voice
  • noun
  • /vɒks hjuːˈmɑːnə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vox humana
  • The church organ features a vox humana stop that adds a distinctly vocal quality to the music.

Examples

  • Many organists admire the expressive power of the vox humana stop during solo passages.

  • It has eight stops and this vox humana.

    Friendly Persuasion (1956)

  • She pulled out the vox humana for the choir piece, creating a warm, singing tone.

How Rich

vox humana
  • Specialized
9.9
harmonizer
  • Specialized
6.8
arranger
9 5.0

Surface Forms

vox humana singular
vox humanas plural

Morphology

vox + humana

The compound literally reads as 'voice' (vox) + 'human' (humana), so a learner who knows those constituents can infer it denotes a voice-like or human-voice quality; the dictionary definition (an organ stop imitating the human voice) directly follows from the parts. Although the phrase is a Latin technical term used in organ terminology, its meaning is compositional and therefore readily inferable from the constituents.

Etymology

The noun vox humana comes from the Latin words vox and humana, meaning 'human voice'. Organ builders made a special organ stop that sounded like a singing voice, so vox humana now names the stop that tries to imitate a human voice.