Phrygian

adj.
Of or relating to Phrygia or its people, language, or culture.

n.

1. A native or inhabitant of Phrygia.
2. The Indo-European language of the Phrygians.

The third of the eight church modes, the authentic Mode on E. The expression ‘Phrygian mode’ is often used as a covering term for Renaissance and Baroque polyphonic compositions whose final sonority is an E major triad established by a Phrygian cadence and within the Phrygian or Hypophrygian range.

A Phrygian Cadence is one in which the lowest part descends to the final or tonic by a semitone step (from a so-called ‘upper leading note’) while the highest part normally rises to the final or tonic by a whole-tone step; the minor-key imperfect cadence, common in the Baroque period at the ends of slow movements, is of this kind.

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The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a Thraco-Phrygian language spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Phrygia and now extinct--preserved only in a few inscriptions

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