Confusion over the meaning of the unadorned word "mordent" has led to the modern terms "upper" and "lower" mordent being used, rather than "mordent" and "inverted mordent". Practice, notation, and nomenclature vary widely for all of these ornaments; that is to say, whether, by including the symbol for a mordent in a musical score, a composer intended the direction of the additional note (or notes) to be played above or below the principal note written on the sheet music varies according to when the piece was written, and in which country.