fugue

[Fr. fugue; Ger. Fuge; Lat., It., Sp., fuga]. (1) The most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint, in which the theme is stated successively in all voices of the polyphonic texture, tonally established, continuously expanded, opposed, and reestablished; also the genre designation for a work employing this procedure. (2) In the Renaissance, *imitation. (3) In the Middle Ages, *canon.