plagal

From Late Latin plagalis, from plaga, from plagius, from Byzantine Ancient Greek πλάγιος (plágios, “plagal”), πλάγιος (plágios, “oblique”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpleɪɡəl/

plagal (comparative more plagal, superlative most plagal)

1. (music) Designating a mode lying a perfect fourth below the authentic form.
   • 2025 December 6, Helen Barrett, “Tapesty of talent”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 8:

     […] [Carol] King uses the plagal coda as affirmation in “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, the 1967 anthem to liberated female sexuality that King co-wrote with [Gerry] Goffin for Aretha Franklin.

2. (music) Designating a cadence in which the subdominant chord precedes the tonic.

• authentic

• gal pal, galpal

plagal (feminine plagale, masculine plural plagaux, feminine plural plagales)

1. plagal

• “plagal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012