What does leger mean?
A leger is principally a short horizontal line used in music notation to support a note written above or below the five-line staff. It is especially associated with British music terminology, where “leger line” is common, although the word is also understood in American English through the alternative form “ledger line.” The term can also mean an account book or record of monetary transactions, but this sense is archaic or literary rather than part of everyday vocabulary. Using leger instead of the more familiar ledger line may therefore suggest a technical manual, a formal discussion of notation, or deliberately traditional prose. Although a leger is physically small and easy to overlook, it has an important structural function: it gives an outlying note a place to be written without disrupting the main pattern of the staff.
nounIn music notation, a leger is a short horizontal line placed above or below the staff to support a note lying outside its five lines. The word can also denote a ledger or account book, chiefly in older usage.
- A short horizontal line in music notation, placed above or below the staff to support a note outside the staff.
- An account book or record of monetary transactions, now chiefly literary or archaic.
"The high C is written on a leger above the treble staff."
"The note immediately above the treble staff is notated on a leger."
"The clerk copied the day's totals into the old leger."
The plural is uncommon. Multiple added staff lines are normally called leger lines rather than legers.
"The accountant consulted several old legers for the missing figures."
A leger is a little outrigger for music notation: place it above or below the staff, and even the highest note has somewhere to stand.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
How leger is actually used
Technical and relatively uncommon. British music sources often use leger line, while American sources generally prefer ledger line; as a term for an account book, leger sounds literary, archaic, or deliberately traditional.
Easily confused with leger
Ledger usually means a book or record of accounts, although American music notation commonly uses ledger line for the short line extending above or below the staff.