Renaissance pop music with a maternal etymology — the madrigal may take its name from the Latin word for "of the womb."
A part-song for several voices, especially one from the Renaissance period, typically unaccompanied and on a secular theme.
From Italian madrigale, possibly from Latin matricalis meaning of the womb or mother church, or from Venetian madregal meaning simple or rustic Key roots: matricalis (Latin: "of the womb, maternal").
The madrigal was Elizabethan England's pop music. In the 1590s, collections of Italian madrigals translated into English became bestsellers, and amateur madrigal singing was considered an essential social skill among the educated class — refusing to sing your part was a serious faux pas.