Niggun ( ):

By: Cyrus Adler , Francis L. Cohen

A Neo-Hebraic noun formed from the "pi'el" of the verb = "to play strings," "make music"; hence meaning generally "tune," "melody." In the rubrics of the Maḥzor of the northern uses "be-niggun N." heads a piyyuṭ with the signification "to the tune of N," as does "laḥn N." ( ) in the southern liturgies. The word is also used to designate a droning, formless intonation set to a text, and, more especially, the particular mellody-type or prayer-motive to which a service is traditionally rendered, e.g. , the Sabbath Niggun. See Music, Synagogal .