MELISMA Meaning of MELISMA in English [ mɪ'lɪzmə ]■ noun ( plural ~s or ~ta -mətə ) Music a group of notes sung to one syllable of text.Derivatives~tic adjective OriginC19: from Gk, lit. 'melody'. Concise Oxford English vocab. Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2004