English words for 'A little theme.'
Closest matches for "A little theme." are ranked by semantic fit across dictionary definitions.
Search results
noun
noun
noun
noun
verb
- (transitive, mathematics) To be in an equivalence relation with.
- (transitive) To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around.
- (intransitive) To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
- (transitive, computing) To flip or switch two adjacent bits (binary digits).
- manipulate, as in a nervous or unconscious manner
- turn in a twisting or spinning motion
noun
noun
noun
- A slight coloring.
- (automotive, informal) A vehicle window that has been darkened to conceal the occupant.
- A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.
- A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.
- A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)
- a just detectable amount
- a dye for coloring the hair
- a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
contraction
verb
noun
noun
- A recurrent theme of a specific thing.
- (countable, uncountable) Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.
- An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession.
- Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.
- a charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers
- excessive or irrational devotion to some activity
- a form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body
noun
verb
noun
- (crosswording) An additional puzzle within the crossword, typically involving a set of non-standard clues or answers.
- A concept with multiple instantiations.
- (music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
- A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- (linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
- Any of various colors, or color palettes, in which a design is offered; (graphical user interface) any of various skins for an app, affecting the visuals and perhaps other elements such as sound effects.
- (linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about.
- A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.
- (linguistics) Thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.
- (film, television, video games) A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.
- (grammar) The stem of a word.
- the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
- an essay (especially one written as an assignment)
- a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
- (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
- (music) melodic subject of a musical composition
noun
adj
verb
noun
noun
noun
- (graphical user interface) A small picture that represents something.
- (Internet, informal) An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.
- (linguistics, semiotics) A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.
- (by extension) A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
- (religion, especially Eastern Christianity) A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
- An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
- a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
- a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden panel; venerated in the Eastern Church
- (computer science) a graphic symbol (usually a simple picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data file or a concept in a graphical user interface
noun
- A small banner.
- (military, historical) A proposed but unadopted senior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force equivalent to group captain.
- A civil officer in some Swiss cantons.
- (law, historical) Clipping of knight banneret, a knight entitled to subinfeudate his estate and to lead men in battle under his own banner.
- a knight honored for valor; entitled to display a square banner and to hold higher command
noun
- Theme, core idea.
- (medicine) The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
- (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- A responsibility, onus.
- (metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
- (mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
- A heavy load.
- A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
- The drone of a bagpipe.
- The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
- (blasting) The distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)
- weight to be borne or conveyed
- the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
- an onerous or difficult concern
- the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse
verb
noun
- An ornamentation.
- A dramatic gesture such as the waving of a flag.
- (architecture) A decorative embellishment on a building.
- (music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.
- (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments
- a display of ornamental speech or language
- an ornamental embellishment in writing
- the act of waving
- a showy gesture
verb
- (intransitive) To be known to have been alive at a particular time or in a particular period, where one's birth and death dates are not known; to have been active during a specified period; floruit.
- (intransitive) To prosper or fare well.
- (intransitive) To be in a period of greatest influence.
- (intransitive) To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.
- (intransitive) To thrive or grow well.
- (intransitive) To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.
- (transitive) To develop; to make thrive; to expand.
- (intransitive) To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.
- (transitive) To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.
- (intransitive) To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.
- (transitive) To make bold, sweeping movements with.
- grow vigorously
- make steady progress; be at the high point in one's career or reach a high point in historical significance or importance
- move or swing back and forth
noun
noun
noun
adj
adv
pron
noun
noun
noun
- (music) A short motif.
- The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.
- The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.
- (informal) A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.)
- A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.
- (informal) An attempt at something.
- An instance or opportunity to earn money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc. or its victim; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks
- (colloquial) A stroke or blow.
- A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.
- (slang) An act of cunnilingus.
- A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream.
- (colloquial, chiefly in the negative) A small amount; a whit.
- a salt deposit that animals regularly lick
- (boxing) a blow with the fist
- touching with the tongue
verb
- (colloquial) To do anything partially.
- (transitive) To stroke with the tongue.
- (transitive) To lap; to take in with the tongue.
- (of flame, waves etc.) To lap.
- (vulgar, slang) To perform cunnilingus.
- pass the tongue over
- find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
- take up with the tongue
- beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
noun
noun
noun
noun
noun
- A gelding.
- (Judaism) Chocolate candy in the shape of coins, usually wrapped in metallic foil, usually eaten on Hanukkah and often used for games of dreidel.
- Tribute; tax.
- (Judaism) Money, especially that given as a gift on Hanukkah or used in games of dreidel.
- (originally UK, especially thieves' cant and Polari, later Judaism and general slang) Money.
- (rare) A lunatic.
- informal terms for money
verb
noun
- A small label.
- (chiefly US) A vehicle number plate; a medal bearing identification data (animals, soldiers).
- (heading) Signature.
- The last line (or last two lines) of a song's chorus that is repeated to indicate the end of the song.
- (heading) Physical appendage.
- (slang) A person's name.
- (computing) A piece of markup representing an element in a markup language.
- Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely.
- (informal, authorship) An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said") or attributed words (e.g. "he thought").
- (biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.
- (computing) A keyword, term, or phrase associated with or assigned to data, media, and/or information enabling keyword-based classification; often used to categorize content.
- A skin tag, an excrescence of skin.
- Graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist.
- A decoration drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls, especially in Stam style.
- Something mean and paltry; the rabble, originally refer to rag as torn cloth.
- A sheep in its first year.
- (uncountable) A game, especially for children on playgrounds, in which one player (known as "it") attempts to touch another, who then becomes "it"; any similar game of chasing and trying to reach, touch, shoot, or label other players.
- The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
- (television) The last scene of a TV program, often focusing on the program's subplot.
- A type of cardboard.
- A dangling lock of sheep's wool, matted with dung; a dung tag.
- (baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand to rule him "out."
- A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
- a small piece of cloth
- a label associated with something for the purpose of identification
- a label written or printed on paper, cardboard, or plastic that is attached to something to indicate its owner, nature, price, etc.
- a game in which one child chases the others; the one who is caught becomes the next chaser
- (sports) the act of touching a player in a game (which changes their status in the game)
verb
- (transitive) To fit with, or as if with, a tag or tags.
- (transitive) To remove dung tags from a sheep.
- (transitive, baseball, colloquial) To hit the ball hard.
- (transitive, computing) To mark with a tag (metadata for classification).
- (transitive, baseball) To put a runner out by touching them with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.
- (transitive, Internet) To attach the name of (a user) to a posted message so that they are linked from the post and possibly sent a notification.
- (transitive) To mark (something) with one's graffiti tag.
- (transitive) To fasten; to attach.
- (transitive, vulgar, slang, 1990s) to have sex with someone (especially a man of a woman)
- (transitive, online gaming, slang) To make contact with an enemy, usually by attacking it before other players do, to establish exclusive or partial eligibility for loot, experience points achievements, etc.
- To follow closely, accompany, tag along.
- (transitive) To catch and touch (a player in the game of tag).
- (transitive) To label (something).
- (transitive, music) To repeat (the ending of a song); to play a tag
- touch a player while they are holding the ball
- go after with the intent to catch
- attach a tag or label to
- provide with a name or nickname
- supply (blank verse or prose) with rhymes
noun
noun
verb
noun
noun
noun
noun
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
- a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
- (crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules.
- A decorative figure that is repeated in a design or pattern.
- A recurring or dominant element; an artistic theme.
- (chess) A basic element of a move in terms of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfilment of a stipulation.
- (music) A short melodic or lyrical passage that is repeated in several parts of a work.
- (biochemistry) In a nucleotide or aminoacid sequence, pattern that is widespread and has, or is conjectured to have, a biological significance.
- (dressmaking) A decorative appliqué design or figure, as of lace or velvet, used in trimming.
noun
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
- the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
- (architecture, fine arts, music) Alternative form of motif.
- (law) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
- (British) One's plans for the day or night.
- (British) A party, gathering, or get-together.
- An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.
adj
verb
noun
noun
noun
adj
- Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
- (often derogatory) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
- (programming, of code) Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
- Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
- Cunning; clever, skilful.
- (UK, sometimes derogatory) Effeminate.
- (ironic) Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
- (used ironically) unexpectedly bad
- pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
adv
verb
noun
noun
noun
noun
noun
verb
- (transitive, mathematics) To be in an equivalence relation with.
- (transitive) To wiggle, fidget or play with; to move around.
- (intransitive) To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles.
- (transitive, computing) To flip or switch two adjacent bits (binary digits).
- manipulate, as in a nervous or unconscious manner
- turn in a twisting or spinning motion
noun
noun
noun
- A slight coloring.
- (automotive, informal) A vehicle window that has been darkened to conceal the occupant.
- A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.
- A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.
- A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)
- a just detectable amount
- a dye for coloring the hair
- a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
contraction
verb
noun
noun
- A recurrent theme of a specific thing.
- (countable, uncountable) Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body.
- An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession.
- Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman.
- a charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers
- excessive or irrational devotion to some activity
- a form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body
noun
noun
adj
verb
noun
noun
noun
- (graphical user interface) A small picture that represents something.
- (Internet, informal) An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.
- (linguistics, semiotics) A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.
- (by extension) A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
- (religion, especially Eastern Christianity) A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
- An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
- a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
- a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden panel; venerated in the Eastern Church
- (computer science) a graphic symbol (usually a simple picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data file or a concept in a graphical user interface
noun
- A small banner.
- (military, historical) A proposed but unadopted senior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force equivalent to group captain.
- A civil officer in some Swiss cantons.
- (law, historical) Clipping of knight banneret, a knight entitled to subinfeudate his estate and to lead men in battle under his own banner.
- a knight honored for valor; entitled to display a square banner and to hold higher command
noun
- Theme, core idea.
- (medicine) The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.
- (music) A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad.
- A responsibility, onus.
- (metalworking) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
- (mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
- A heavy load.
- A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
- A fixed quantity of certain commodities.
- The drone of a bagpipe.
- The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.
- (blasting) The distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)
- weight to be borne or conveyed
- the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
- an onerous or difficult concern
- the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse
verb
noun
- An ornamentation.
- A dramatic gesture such as the waving of a flag.
- (architecture) A decorative embellishment on a building.
- (music) A ceremonious passage such as a fanfare.
- (music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments
- a display of ornamental speech or language
- an ornamental embellishment in writing
- the act of waving
- a showy gesture
verb
- (intransitive) To be known to have been alive at a particular time or in a particular period, where one's birth and death dates are not known; to have been active during a specified period; floruit.
- (intransitive) To prosper or fare well.
- (intransitive) To be in a period of greatest influence.
- (intransitive) To execute an irregular or fanciful strain of music, by way of ornament or prelude.
- (intransitive) To thrive or grow well.
- (intransitive) To make ornamental strokes with the pen; to write graceful, decorative figures.
- (transitive) To develop; to make thrive; to expand.
- (intransitive) To make bold and sweeping, fanciful, or wanton movements, by way of ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion.
- (transitive) To adorn with beautiful figures or rhetoric; to ornament with anything showy; to embellish.
- (intransitive) To use florid language; to indulge in rhetorical figures and lofty expressions.
- (transitive) To make bold, sweeping movements with.
- grow vigorously
- make steady progress; be at the high point in one's career or reach a high point in historical significance or importance
- move or swing back and forth
noun
noun
noun
adj
adv
pron
noun
noun
noun
- (music) A short motif.
- The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.
- The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.
- (informal) A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.)
- A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.
- (informal) An attempt at something.
- An instance or opportunity to earn money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc. or its victim; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks
- (colloquial) A stroke or blow.
- A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.
- (slang) An act of cunnilingus.
- A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream.
- (colloquial, chiefly in the negative) A small amount; a whit.
- a salt deposit that animals regularly lick
- (boxing) a blow with the fist
- touching with the tongue
verb
- (colloquial) To do anything partially.
- (transitive) To stroke with the tongue.
- (transitive) To lap; to take in with the tongue.
- (of flame, waves etc.) To lap.
- (vulgar, slang) To perform cunnilingus.
- pass the tongue over
- find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
- take up with the tongue
- beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
noun
noun
noun
noun
noun
- A gelding.
- (Judaism) Chocolate candy in the shape of coins, usually wrapped in metallic foil, usually eaten on Hanukkah and often used for games of dreidel.
- Tribute; tax.
- (Judaism) Money, especially that given as a gift on Hanukkah or used in games of dreidel.
- (originally UK, especially thieves' cant and Polari, later Judaism and general slang) Money.
- (rare) A lunatic.
- informal terms for money
verb
noun
- A small label.
- (chiefly US) A vehicle number plate; a medal bearing identification data (animals, soldiers).
- (heading) Signature.
- The last line (or last two lines) of a song's chorus that is repeated to indicate the end of the song.
- (heading) Physical appendage.
- (slang) A person's name.
- (computing) A piece of markup representing an element in a markup language.
- Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely.
- (informal, authorship) An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said") or attributed words (e.g. "he thought").
- (biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.
- (computing) A keyword, term, or phrase associated with or assigned to data, media, and/or information enabling keyword-based classification; often used to categorize content.
- A skin tag, an excrescence of skin.
- Graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist.
- A decoration drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls, especially in Stam style.
- Something mean and paltry; the rabble, originally refer to rag as torn cloth.
- A sheep in its first year.
- (uncountable) A game, especially for children on playgrounds, in which one player (known as "it") attempts to touch another, who then becomes "it"; any similar game of chasing and trying to reach, touch, shoot, or label other players.
- The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
- (television) The last scene of a TV program, often focusing on the program's subplot.
- A type of cardboard.
- A dangling lock of sheep's wool, matted with dung; a dung tag.
- (baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand to rule him "out."
- A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
- a small piece of cloth
- a label associated with something for the purpose of identification
- a label written or printed on paper, cardboard, or plastic that is attached to something to indicate its owner, nature, price, etc.
- a game in which one child chases the others; the one who is caught becomes the next chaser
- (sports) the act of touching a player in a game (which changes their status in the game)
verb
- (transitive) To fit with, or as if with, a tag or tags.
- (transitive) To remove dung tags from a sheep.
- (transitive, baseball, colloquial) To hit the ball hard.
- (transitive, computing) To mark with a tag (metadata for classification).
- (transitive, baseball) To put a runner out by touching them with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.
- (transitive, Internet) To attach the name of (a user) to a posted message so that they are linked from the post and possibly sent a notification.
- (transitive) To mark (something) with one's graffiti tag.
- (transitive) To fasten; to attach.
- (transitive, vulgar, slang, 1990s) to have sex with someone (especially a man of a woman)
- (transitive, online gaming, slang) To make contact with an enemy, usually by attacking it before other players do, to establish exclusive or partial eligibility for loot, experience points achievements, etc.
- To follow closely, accompany, tag along.
- (transitive) To catch and touch (a player in the game of tag).
- (transitive) To label (something).
- (transitive, music) To repeat (the ending of a song); to play a tag
- touch a player while they are holding the ball
- go after with the intent to catch
- attach a tag or label to
- provide with a name or nickname
- supply (blank verse or prose) with rhymes
noun
noun
verb
noun
noun
noun
noun
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
- a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
- (crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules.
- A decorative figure that is repeated in a design or pattern.
- A recurring or dominant element; an artistic theme.
- (chess) A basic element of a move in terms of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfilment of a stipulation.
- (music) A short melodic or lyrical passage that is repeated in several parts of a work.
- (biochemistry) In a nucleotide or aminoacid sequence, pattern that is widespread and has, or is conjectured to have, a biological significance.
- (dressmaking) A decorative appliqué design or figure, as of lace or velvet, used in trimming.
noun
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
- the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
- (architecture, fine arts, music) Alternative form of motif.
- (law) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
- (British) One's plans for the day or night.
- (British) A party, gathering, or get-together.
- An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.
adj
verb
noun
noun
noun
adj
- Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
- (often derogatory) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
- (programming, of code) Matching commonly accepted principles of formatting and syntax, for the sake of readability.
- Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
- Cunning; clever, skilful.
- (UK, sometimes derogatory) Effeminate.
- (ironic) Awkward, unpleasant, bad.
- (used ironically) unexpectedly bad
- pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
adv
verb
noun
verb
noun
- (crosswording) An additional puzzle within the crossword, typically involving a set of non-standard clues or answers.
- A concept with multiple instantiations.
- (music) The main melody of a piece of music, especially one that is the source of variations.
- A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- (linguistics) Theta role in generative grammar and government and binding theory.
- Any of various colors, or color palettes, in which a design is offered; (graphical user interface) any of various skins for an app, affecting the visuals and perhaps other elements such as sound effects.
- (linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about.
- A regional unit of organisation in the Byzantine empire.
- (linguistics) Thematic relation of a noun phrase to a verb.
- (film, television, video games) A song, or a snippet of a song, that identifies a film, a TV program, a character, etc. by playing at the appropriate time.
- (grammar) The stem of a word.
- the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
- an essay (especially one written as an assignment)
- a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work
- (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
- (music) melodic subject of a musical composition