authentic mode

noun

: a church mode (such as Phrygian or Mixolydian) whose ambitus comprises approximately the octave above the final (see final entry 2 sense c)

An authentic mode is based on its Final or lowest note …

—Rupert Hughes, The Musical Guide, 1903

compare plagal mode see church mode illustration

Word History

First Known Use

1740, in the meaning defined above

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