From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Accompaniment \Ac*com"pa*ni*ment\ (-ment), noun [F. accompagnement.] That which accompanies; something that attends as a circumstance, or which is added to give greater completeness to the principal thing, or by way of ornament, or for the sake of symmetry. Specifically: (Mus.) A part performed by instruments, accompanying another part or parts performed by voices; the subordinate part, or parts, accompanying the voice or a principal instrument; also, the harmony of a figured bass. --P. Cyc.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: an event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another [syn: {concomitant}, {co-occurrence}]
2: a subordinate musical part; provides background for more important parts [syn: {musical accompaniment}, {backup}, {support}]
3: the act of accompanying someone or something in order to protect them [syn: {escort}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
111 Moby Thesaurus words for "accompaniment": accession, accessory, accordance, addenda, addendum, additament, addition, additive, additory, additum, adjunct, adjuvant, agreement, alliance, alto, annex, annexation, appanage, appendage, appendant, appurtenance, appurtenant, association, attachment, augment, augmentation, baritone, bass, basso continuo, basso ostinato, bassus, cahoots, canto, cantus, cantus figuratus, cantus planus, co-working, coaction, coda, coetaneity, coetaneousness, coevalneity, coevalness, coexistence, coincidence, collaboration, collectivity, collusion, combination, combined effort, complement, concert, concerted action, concomitance, concomitant, concordance, concourse, concurrence, confluence, conjunction, consilience, conspiracy, contemporaneity, contemporaneousness, continuation, continuo, contralto, cooperation, corollary, correspondence, descant, drone, extension, extrapolation, figured bass, fixture, ground bass, increase, increment, isochronism, junction, line, offshoot, parasitism, part, pendant, plain chant, plain song, prick song, reinforcement, saprophytism, side effect, side issue, simultaneity, soprano, supplement, symbiosis, synchronism, synchronization, synergy, tailpiece, tenor, thorough bass, treble, undergirding, undersong, union, unison, united action, voice, voice part
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