action

en-noun

action (countable and uncountable, plural actions)

→ Arabic: أَكْشِن (ʔakšin)

→ Bulgarian: екшън (ekšǎn)

→ German: Action

→ Irish: aicsean

→ Hebrew: אקשן (akshn)

→ Japanese: アクション (akushon)

→ Korean: 액션 (aeksyeon)

→ Russian: экшн (ekšn)

From Middle English accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āctus + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti; see also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

der

The run in bar 12 is almost impossible with this piano's heavy action.

(music) The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.

koneisto

music: set of moving mechanical parts of a keyboard instrument

You're getting fret buzz because the action is too low.

(music, lutherie) The distance separating the strings and the fingerboard on a string instrument.

kielen korkeus

music: distance separating the strings and the fretboard


accident

Borrowed from Latin accidentem, present active participle of accidō (“happen”).


finale

(music) final note (last note of a tune)


finale

(figuratively) Madame Hulot faisait remonter les premières infidélités de son Hector au grand finale de l’Empire.

1846, Honoré de Balzac, La Cousine Bette [Cousin Bette], Boniface, page 34:

Madame Hulot traced the first infidelities of her Hector back to the grand finale of the Empire.

La pièce est finie, mais non pas la musique. Il faut un finale : sans finale, pas d’opéra.

1867, Gustave Nadaud, “La volière [The Birdcage]”, in Henri Plon, editor, Opérettes [Operettas], volume IV, Paris, act ?, scene xiii, page 117:

The piece is finished, but not the music. There needs to be a finale: without a finale, no opera.

(figuratively) Le finale se recule encore, et vous allez voir que c’est malgré moi…

1854, Gérard de Nerval, “Angélique”, in Les Filles du feu [The Daughters of Fire], page 83:

The finale moves itself back again, and you will see that it is despite myself….

L’épisode du cirque ambulant serait un bon finale pour ces treize années.

1977, Marguerite Yourcenar, Archives du Nord [Archives of the North], Éditions Gallimard, page 350:

The episode of the travelling circus would be a good finale for these thirteen years.

(music) finale (ensemble piece that ends an act of an opera, symphony, sonata)


wax

en-noun

wax (countable and uncountable, plural waxes)

From Middle English wax, from Old English weax, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *woḱ-so-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Woaks (“wax”), West Frisian waaks (“wax”), Dutch was (“wax”), German Wachs (“wax”), Norwegian voks (“wax”); and with Lithuanian vaškas (“wax”), Proto-Slavic *voskъ (“wax”).

California wax myrtle (Myrica californica

What really started the corn sprouting on Broadway was a lugubrious tune by Louisiana's Jimmie Davis called It Makes No Difference Now. In the late '30s Decca's Recording Chief David Kapp heard this Texas hit and got it on wax.

(uncountable, music, informal) The phonograph record format for music.


finger

en-verb

finger (third-person singular simple present fingers, present participle fingering, simple past and past participle fingered)

fingers (present singular third-person)
fingering (participle present)
fingered (participle past)
fingered (past)

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.

digitar

to provide instructions about the use of fingers in music

(transitive, music) To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.

fingri

to use specified finger positions to produce notes on a musical instrument

(transitive, music) To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.


air

en-noun

air (countable and uncountable, plural airs)

→ Jersey Dutch: êr

From Middle English aire, from Old French air, from Latin āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Displaced native Old English lyft. More at lift, loft.

хӏауа

mixture of gases making up the atmosphere of the Earth

luftrener

air conditioner or the processed air it produces

ayr

especially when referring to the form of music

"If I," said Mr. Collins, "were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman[…]"

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

The lad, his son, had obtained a Jew's-harp, and learned to play upon it the profane airs of "Yankee Doodle," "Hail Columbia," "St. Patrick's Day," and "Auld Lang Syne."

1850, T. S. Arthur, “Deacon Smith and his Violin”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 70:

(music) A melody or song, especially a solo; an aria.


grupo

Borrowed from Italian gruppo, from Vulgar Latin *cruppus, itself from Proto-Germanic *kruppaz (“lump, round mass, body, crop”). Compare Renaissance Latin grupus.


CM

en-noun

CM (countable and uncountable, plural CMs)

Sense "commercial" is a borrowing from Japanese CM (CM, “promotional video”), from English commercial + message.

(music, archaic) Initialism of common meter.


AC

adult contemporary
adult contemporary#English

(music, radio) Initialism of adult contemporary (a radio format).


ass

assen (definite singular)
asser (indefinite plural)
assene (definite plural)


ass

assen (definite singular)
assar (indefinite plural)
assane (definite plural)


ass

ass (indefinite nominative singular)
asset (definite nominative singular)
ass (indefinite nominative plural)
assen (definite nominative plural)
ass (genitive indefinite singular)
assets (definite genitive singular)
ass (genitive indefinite plural)
assens (definite genitive plural)


hallelujah

Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)
Messiah
Messiah_Part_II#44

From Hebrew הַלְלוּיָהּ (hal'luyáh, “Praise Yah”).

bor

(music) A song of praise to God; a musical composition based on the word "Hallelujah".


voz

From Old Galician-Portuguese voz, from Latin vōcem, singular accusative of vōx.


MC

en-noun

MC (countable and uncountable, plural MCs or MC's)

Three MC's and one DJ / We be getting down with no delay

1999, “Three MC’s and One DJ”, in Hello Nasty, performed by Beastie Boys:


MC

en-verb

MC (third-person singular simple present MCs, present participle MCing, simple past and past participle MCed)

MCs (present singular third-person)
MCing (participle present)
MCed (participle past)
MCed (past)

British rapheads do not usually have a great appreciation for rap acts with a pop edge. And having credits that include a stint MCing for Belgium’s hugely successful pop-dance group Technotronic is something that’s best not mentioned in hip-hop circles.

2000 August 19, Kwaku et al., “Keepin’ It Real around the World”, in Billboard, volume 112, number 34, →ISSN, page 40:


MC

Borrowed from English MC (“master of ceremonies; rapper”).


vox angelica

From Latin vox (“voice”) + angelica (“angelic”).

(music) an organ stop giving a gentle tremolo effect; the voix céleste


VA

en-noun

VA (countable and uncountable, plural VAs)


wood

wood (countable and uncountable, plural woods)

Sranan Tongo: udu

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”).
Cognate with Dutch wede (“wood, twig”), Middle High German wite (“wood”), Danish ved (“wood”), Swedish ved (“firewood”), Icelandic viður (“wood”). Further cognates include Irish fiodh (“a wood, tree”), Irish fid (“tree”) and Welsh gwŷdd (“trees”); all from Proto-Celtic *widus (“wood”). Unrelated to Dutch woud (“forest”), German Wald (“forest”) (see English wold).


kaczka

kaczuszka (diminutive)
kaczka (nominative singular)
kaczki (nominative plural)
kaczki (genitive singular)
kaczek (genitive plural)
kaczce (dative singular)
kaczkom (dative plural)
kaczkę (accusative singular)
kaczki (accusative plural)
kaczką (instrumental singular)
kaczkami (instrumental plural)
kaczce (locative singular)
kaczkach (locative plural)
kaczko (singular vocative)
kaczki (plural vocative)

→ Low Prussian: Katschke

Probably onomatopoeic. Cognates include Czech kachna, kačka, and Slovak kačka, kačica.


salsa

en-noun

salsa (countable and uncountable, plural salsas)

→ Mongolian: салса (salsa)

Borrowed from Spanish salsa (“sauce”), from Latin salsus (“salted”), whence also the doublet sauce (via Old French).

(uncountable, music) A style of urban music originally from New York heavily influenced by Cuban dance music, jazz and rock.


salsa

salsa (nominative singular)
salsat (nominative plural)
salsa (accusative nominative singular)
salsat (accusative nominative plural)
salsan (accusative genitive singular)
salsat (accusative genitive plural)
salsan (genitive singular)
salsojen (genitive plural)
salsain (genitive plural rare)
salsaa (partitive singular)
salsoja (partitive plural)
salsassa (inessive singular)
salsoissa (inessive plural)
salsasta (elative singular)
salsoista (elative plural)
salsaan (illative singular)
salsoihin (illative plural)
salsalla (adessive singular)
salsoilla (adessive plural)
salsalta (ablative singular)
salsoilta (ablative plural)
salsalle (allative singular)
salsoille (allative plural)
salsana (essive singular)
salsoina (essive plural)
salsaksi (singular translative)
salsoiksi (plural translative)
salsatta (abessive singular)
salsoitta (abessive plural)
salsoin (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
salsani (nominative singular)
salsani (nominative plural)
salsani (accusative nominative singular)
salsani (accusative nominative plural)
salsani (accusative genitive singular)
salsani (accusative genitive plural)
salsani (genitive singular)
salsojeni (genitive plural)
salsaini (genitive plural rare)
salsaani (partitive singular)
salsojani (partitive plural)
salsassani (inessive singular)
salsoissani (inessive plural)
salsastani (elative singular)
salsoistani (elative plural)
salsaani (illative singular)
salsoihini (illative plural)
salsallani (adessive singular)
salsoillani (adessive plural)
salsaltani (ablative singular)
salsoiltani (ablative plural)
salsalleni (allative singular)
salsoilleni (allative plural)
salsanani (essive singular)
salsoinani (essive plural)
salsakseni (singular translative)
salsoikseni (plural translative)
salsattani (abessive singular)
salsoittani (abessive plural)
salsoineni (comitative plural)
salsasi (nominative singular)
salsasi (nominative plural)
salsasi (accusative nominative singular)
salsasi (accusative nominative plural)
salsasi (accusative genitive singular)
salsasi (accusative genitive plural)
salsasi (genitive singular)
salsojesi (genitive plural)
salsaisi (genitive plural rare)
salsaasi (partitive singular)
salsojasi (partitive plural)
salsassasi (inessive singular)
salsoissasi (inessive plural)
salsastasi (elative singular)
salsoistasi (elative plural)
salsaasi (illative singular)
salsoihisi (illative plural)
salsallasi (adessive singular)
salsoillasi (adessive plural)
salsaltasi (ablative singular)
salsoiltasi (ablative plural)
salsallesi (allative singular)
salsoillesi (allative plural)
salsanasi (essive singular)
salsoinasi (essive plural)
salsaksesi (singular translative)
salsoiksesi (plural translative)
salsattasi (abessive singular)
salsoittasi (abessive plural)
salsoinesi (comitative plural)
salsamme (nominative singular)
salsamme (nominative plural)
salsamme (accusative nominative singular)
salsamme (accusative nominative plural)
salsamme (accusative genitive singular)
salsamme (accusative genitive plural)
salsamme (genitive singular)
salsojemme (genitive plural)
salsaimme (genitive plural rare)
salsaamme (partitive singular)
salsojamme (partitive plural)
salsassamme (inessive singular)
salsoissamme (inessive plural)
salsastamme (elative singular)
salsoistamme (elative plural)
salsaamme (illative singular)
salsoihimme (illative plural)
salsallamme (adessive singular)
salsoillamme (adessive plural)
salsaltamme (ablative singular)
salsoiltamme (ablative plural)
salsallemme (allative singular)
salsoillemme (allative plural)
salsanamme (essive singular)
salsoinamme (essive plural)
salsaksemme (singular translative)
salsoiksemme (plural translative)
salsattamme (abessive singular)
salsoittamme (abessive plural)
salsoinemme (comitative plural)
salsanne (nominative singular)
salsanne (nominative plural)
salsanne (accusative nominative singular)
salsanne (accusative nominative plural)
salsanne (accusative genitive singular)
salsanne (accusative genitive plural)
salsanne (genitive singular)
salsojenne (genitive plural)
salsainne (genitive plural rare)
salsaanne (partitive singular)
salsojanne (partitive plural)
salsassanne (inessive singular)
salsoissanne (inessive plural)
salsastanne (elative singular)
salsoistanne (elative plural)
salsaanne (illative singular)
salsoihinne (illative plural)
salsallanne (adessive singular)
salsoillanne (adessive plural)
salsaltanne (ablative singular)
salsoiltanne (ablative plural)
salsallenne (allative singular)
salsoillenne (allative plural)
salsananne (essive singular)
salsoinanne (essive plural)
salsaksenne (singular translative)
salsoiksenne (plural translative)
salsattanne (abessive singular)
salsoittanne (abessive plural)
salsoinenne (comitative plural)
salsansa (nominative singular)
salsansa (nominative plural)
salsansa (accusative nominative singular)
salsansa (accusative nominative plural)
salsansa (accusative genitive singular)
salsansa (accusative genitive plural)
salsansa (genitive singular)
salsojensa (genitive plural)
salsainsa (genitive plural rare)
salsaansa (partitive singular)
salsojaan (partitive plural)
salsojansa (partitive plural)
salsassaan (inessive singular)
salsassansa (inessive singular)
salsoissaan (inessive plural)
salsoissansa (inessive plural)
salsastaan (elative singular)
salsastansa (elative singular)
salsoistaan (elative plural)
salsoistansa (elative plural)
salsaansa (illative singular)
salsoihinsa (illative plural)
salsallaan (adessive singular)
salsallansa (adessive singular)
salsoillaan (adessive plural)
salsoillansa (adessive plural)
salsaltaan (ablative singular)
salsaltansa (ablative singular)
salsoiltaan (ablative plural)
salsoiltansa (ablative plural)
salsalleen (allative singular)
salsallensa (allative singular)
salsoilleen (allative plural)
salsoillensa (allative plural)
salsanaan (essive singular)
salsanansa (essive singular)
salsoinaan (essive plural)
salsoinansa (essive plural)
salsakseen (singular translative)
salsaksensa (singular translative)
salsoikseen (plural translative)
salsoiksensa (plural translative)
salsattaan (abessive singular)
salsattansa (abessive singular)
salsoittaan (abessive plural)
salsoittansa (abessive plural)
salsoineen (comitative plural)
salsoinensa (comitative plural)

[ˈs̠ɑ̝ls̠ɑ̝]

fi:Salsa (kastike)
fi:Salsa (musiikki)
fi:Salsa (tanssi)


salsa

(music, dance genre) salsa (a music and dance genre influenced by Cuban music, jazz and rock)


sol

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-sol.wav

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (“fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (“wash away”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

inh

D ſol re, one Cliffe, two notes haue I, / Ela mi, ſhow pitty or I die.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 218, column 2:

Ser[vant, i.e., Peter]. Alack alack what ſhal I doe, come Fidlers play me ſome mery dumpe. / I. [First musician]. A ſir, this is no time to play. / […] / Ser. Then will I giue it you, and ſoundly to. / I. What will you giue vs? / Ser. The fidler, Ile re you, Ile fa you, Ile ſol you. / I. If you re vs and fa vs, we will note you.

[c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:

In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la.

سُول

in a movable-do system: the fifth step in a scale

In a fixed-do system: the musical note G.


sol

(music) sol (the fifth note of the diatonic scale)


sol

head

sol n (singular definite sollet, plural indefinite soller)

sollet (definite singular)
soller (indefinite plural)
sol (indefinite nominative singular)
sollet (definite nominative singular)
soller (indefinite nominative plural)
sollerne (definite nominative plural)
sols (genitive indefinite singular)
sollets (definite genitive singular)
sollers (genitive indefinite plural)
sollernes (definite genitive plural)

From Latin sol(ve) in the hymn for St. John the Baptist.


sol

nl-noun

sol f (plural sollen, diminutive solletje n)

sollen (plural)
solletje (diminutive neuter)

From Latin sol(ve) in the hymn for St. John the Baptist all note names were taken from.

(music, Belgium) sol (the fifth step in the solfège scale of C, preceded by fa and followed by la)


sol

From Latin sol(ve) in the hymn for St. John the Baptist where all note names were taken from.

(music) sol (the fifth step (G) in the solfège scale of C, preceded by fa and followed by la)


sol

id-noun

sol (first-person possessive solku, second-person possessive solmu, third-person possessive solnya)

solku (first-person possessive)
solmu (possessive second-person)
solnya (possessive third-person)

From Dutch sol, the first syllable of Latin solve (“to remove, get rid of”), the first word of the fifth line, third verse (“Solve polluti, labii reatum”, that is, “Clean the guilt from our stained lips”) of the famed medieval hymn Ut queant laxis, which solfège was based on because its lines started on each note of the scale successively.

in a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la.

in a fixed-do system: the musical note G.


sol

sol-en (definite singular)
sol-ar (indefinite plural)
sol-ane (definite plural)

From Latin solve, from the first word of the fifth line of Ut queant laxis, the medieval hymn on which solfège was based because its lines started on each note of the scale successively. Through Italian.

(music) sol (a syllable used in solfège to represent the fifth note of a major scale)


sol

sol (indefinite nominative singular)
solen (definite nominative singular)
solar (indefinite nominative plural)
solarna (definite nominative plural)
sols (genitive indefinite singular)
solens (definite genitive singular)
solars (genitive indefinite plural)
solarnas (definite genitive plural)

From Old Swedish sōl, from Old Norse sól, from Proto-Germanic *sōl (“sun”).


sol

head

sol (definite accusative solü, plural soller)

solü (accusative definite)
soller (plural)


wysokość

pl-noun

wysokość f (related adjective wysokościowy)

wysokościowy (adjective)
wysokość (nominative singular)
wysokości (nominative plural)
wysokości (genitive singular)
wysokości (genitive plural)
wysokości (dative singular)
wysokościom (dative plural)
wysokość (accusative singular)
wysokości (accusative plural)
wysokością (instrumental singular)
wysokościami (instrumental plural)
wysokości (locative singular)
wysokościach (locative plural)
wysokości (singular vocative)
wysokości (plural vocative)

/vɘˈsɔ.kɔɕt͡ɕ/

/vɨˈsɔ.kɔɕt͡ɕ/

Inherited from Old Polish wysokość. By surface analysis, wysoki + -ość. Compare Czech vysokost, Kashubian wësokòsc, and Russian высо́кость (vysókostʹ).

(music) highness; pitch (trait of a sound resulting from a high frequency; perceived frequency of a sound)


góra

góra f (diminutive górka, abbreviation g.)

górka (diminutive)
g. (abbreviation)
góra (nominative singular)
góry (nominative plural)
góry (genitive singular)
gór (genitive plural)
górze (dative singular)
górom (dative plural)
górę (accusative singular)
góry (accusative plural)
górą (instrumental singular)
górami (instrumental plural)
górze (locative singular)
górach (locative plural)
góro (singular vocative)
góry (plural vocative)

Inherited from Old Polish góra. Sense 5 is preserved in terms such as górnik and was displaced by kopalnia.

góra z górą się nie zejdzie, a człowiek z człowiekiem zawsze

góra z górą się nie zejdzie, ale człowiek

nie przyszła góra do Mahometa, przyszedł Mahomet do góry

(uncountable) top (higher part of some object; upmost part of something)

(uncountable, music) upper range of a singer


dub

en-noun

dub (countable and uncountable, plural dubs)

(music, countable) A mostly instrumental remix with all or part of the vocals removed.

It’s also burnished by intriguing sense of vaguely dub-influenced space. At one point, it breaks down to little more than a stabbing, echoing organ with a vintage reggae flavour.

2020 April 23, Alexis Petridis, “The Rolling Stones: Living in a Ghost Town review – their best new song in years”, in The Guardian:

(music, uncountable) A style of reggae music involving mixing of different audio tracks.

But I think my bass playing is definitely dub-influenced.

2019 January 18, Jamie Dickson, “Khruangbin: “We’re not intending to create war with our music… It’s the absence of that aggression that a lot of rock bands have””, in Music Radar:

Dyl’s polyrhythmic grooves on The Subsurface Project fuse dub techno and drum & bass, mixing modular sounds with hints of warm, jittery jungle.

2020 July 20, Arun Chakal, “The Worked-Up Sound of Drum & Bass in Russia and Eastern Europe”, in Bandcamp Daily:

It reminded me of that classic Full Cycle vibe of jazzy soulful sounds blending with dub bass and fx.

2020 August 3, Kane, “The Extended Cut: Zero T - Former Self EP [The North Quarter]”, in Magnetic Magazine:

(music, uncountable) A trend in music starting in 2009, in which bass distortion is synced off timing to electronic dance music.


coral

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin chorālis. By surface analysis, coro + -al.

lbor

(music) choir (ensemble of people who sing together)

(music) choral song (song written for a choir to perform)


coral

(music) choral (written to be performed by a choir)


Goa

From Portuguese Goa, from Konkani गोंय (goiya), from Sanskrit गोमन्त (gomanta).

(music) A form of trance music that originated during the late 1980s in Goa, India.


chair

→ Assamese: চেয়াৰ (sear)

→ Bengali: চেয়ার (ceẏar)

desc

→ Odia: ଚେଆର୍ (ceār), ଚିୟାର୍ (ciyār), ଚିଆର (ciāra)

Tok Pisin: sea, sia

→ Tongan: sea

From Middle English chayer, chaire, chaiere, chaere, chayre, chayere, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.

My violin teacher used to play first chair with the Boston Pops.

(music) The seating position of a particular musician in an orchestra.


phrase

From Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “I tell, express”).

der

(music) A small section of music in a larger piece.

фра́за

music: small section of music in a larger piece


phrase

en-verb

phrase (third-person singular simple present phrases, present participle phrasing, simple past and past participle phrased)

phrases (present singular third-person)
phrasing (participle present)
phrased (participle past)
phrased (past)

(intransitive, music) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.

фрази́рам

music: perform a passage with the correct phrasing

(transitive, music) To divide into melodic phrases.


son

From Spanish son (literally “tone, sound”).

When son first emerged in the streets of Havana, in the early twentieth century, it was shut down by the police, as were most forms of African culture. Son groups, conjuntos, caught playing on the street, as was the tradition, had their instruments confiscated.

2017, Mark Kurlansky, Havana: A Subtropical Delirium, Bloomsbury, →ISBN:

(music) Son cubano, a genre of music and dance blending Spanish and African elements that originated in Cuba during the late 19th century.


son

Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico

From Latin sonus, probably through the intermediate of Old Occitan son (or influenced by it); alternatively, but less likely, regressively derived from the verb sonar (the more expected form is sueno that appeared in some Medieval texts). Compare English sound and Portuguese som.

(music, genre, uncountable) son (Afro-Cuban musical form)

(music) musical composition in this form


loco

(music) A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.


to

Borrowed from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos). First attested in 1575.


ad libitum

[äd̪ ˈlʲɪbɪt̪ʊ̃ˑ]

(music) at one's pleasure, allowing freedom to improvise, allowing variation from the printed notes or tempo.


perfect

en-adj

perfect (comparative perfecter or more perfect, superlative perfectest or most perfect)

perfecter (comparative)
more perfect (comparative)
perfectest (superlative)
most perfect (superlative)

flawed

antonym(s) of “fitting its definition precisely”

faulty

antonym(s) of “without fault or mistake”

From Middle English perfit, from Old French parfit (modern: parfait), from Latin perfectus, perfect passive participle of perficere (“to finish”), from per- (“through, thorough”) + facere (“to do, to make”). Spelling modified 15c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of parfait.
Displaced native Old English fulfremed.

let the perfect be the enemy of the good

perfect fifth

(music) Describing an interval or any compound interval of a unison, octave, or fourths and fifths that are not tritones.

perfektu

music: interval or any compound interval of a unison, octave, or fourths and fifths that are not tritones.


entrance

en-noun

entrance (countable and uncountable, plural entrances)

From Middle French entrance (“entry”). Replaced native Middle English ingang (“entrance, admission”), from Old English ingang (“ingress, entry, entrance”).

cog

(music) The beginning of a musician's playing or singing; entry.

aloitus

music: when a musician starts performing


beat

→ Pennsylvania German: biede

From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to hit, strike”).
Compare Old Irish fo·botha (“he threatened”), Latin confutō (“I strike down”), fūstis (“stick, club”), Albanian bahe (“sling”), Lithuanian baudžiù, Old Armenian բութ (butʻ)).

der

march to the beat of a different drummer

(music) A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.

(music) The rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians.


beat

nl-noun

beat m (plural beats, diminutive beatje n)

beats (plural)
beatje (diminutive neuter)


beat

beaturi (plural)
beat (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
un beat (accusative indefinite nominative singular)
beatul (accusative definite nominative singular)
beaturi (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
niște beaturi (accusative indefinite nominative plural)
beaturile (accusative definite nominative plural)
beat (dative genitive indefinite singular)
unui beat (dative genitive indefinite singular)
beatului (dative definite genitive singular)
beaturi (dative genitive indefinite plural)
unor beaturi (dative genitive indefinite plural)
beaturilor (dative definite genitive plural)
beatule (singular vocative)
beaturilor (plural vocative)

Nu mint, doar că tu nu înțelegi ce vreau să transmit pe beat.

I ain't lying, you just don't understand what I'm tryna convey on the beat.


as

as (nominative singular)
asit (nominative plural)
as (accusative nominative singular)
asit (accusative nominative plural)
asin (accusative genitive singular)
asit (accusative genitive plural)
asin (genitive singular)
asien (genitive plural)
asia (partitive singular)
aseja (partitive plural)
asissa (inessive singular)
aseissa (inessive plural)
asista (elative singular)
aseista (elative plural)
asiin (illative singular)
aseihin (illative plural)
asilla (adessive singular)
aseilla (adessive plural)
asilta (ablative singular)
aseilta (ablative plural)
asille (allative singular)
aseille (allative plural)
asina (essive singular)
aseina (essive plural)
asiksi (singular translative)
aseiksi (plural translative)
asitta (abessive singular)
aseitta (abessive plural)
asein (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
asini (nominative singular)
asini (nominative plural)
asini (accusative nominative singular)
asini (accusative nominative plural)
asini (accusative genitive singular)
asini (accusative genitive plural)
asini (genitive singular)
asieni (genitive plural)
asiani (partitive singular)
asejani (partitive plural)
asissani (inessive singular)
aseissani (inessive plural)
asistani (elative singular)
aseistani (elative plural)
asiini (illative singular)
aseihini (illative plural)
asillani (adessive singular)
aseillani (adessive plural)
asiltani (ablative singular)
aseiltani (ablative plural)
asilleni (allative singular)
aseilleni (allative plural)
asinani (essive singular)
aseinani (essive plural)
asikseni (singular translative)
aseikseni (plural translative)
asittani (abessive singular)
aseittani (abessive plural)
aseineni (comitative plural)
asisi (nominative singular)
asisi (nominative plural)
asisi (accusative nominative singular)
asisi (accusative nominative plural)
asisi (accusative genitive singular)
asisi (accusative genitive plural)
asisi (genitive singular)
asiesi (genitive plural)
asiasi (partitive singular)
asejasi (partitive plural)
asissasi (inessive singular)
aseissasi (inessive plural)
asistasi (elative singular)
aseistasi (elative plural)
asiisi (illative singular)
aseihisi (illative plural)
asillasi (adessive singular)
aseillasi (adessive plural)
asiltasi (ablative singular)
aseiltasi (ablative plural)
asillesi (allative singular)
aseillesi (allative plural)
asinasi (essive singular)
aseinasi (essive plural)
asiksesi (singular translative)
aseiksesi (plural translative)
asittasi (abessive singular)
aseittasi (abessive plural)
aseinesi (comitative plural)
asimme (nominative singular)
asimme (nominative plural)
asimme (accusative nominative singular)
asimme (accusative nominative plural)
asimme (accusative genitive singular)
asimme (accusative genitive plural)
asimme (genitive singular)
asiemme (genitive plural)
asiamme (partitive singular)
asejamme (partitive plural)
asissamme (inessive singular)
aseissamme (inessive plural)
asistamme (elative singular)
aseistamme (elative plural)
asiimme (illative singular)
aseihimme (illative plural)
asillamme (adessive singular)
aseillamme (adessive plural)
asiltamme (ablative singular)
aseiltamme (ablative plural)
asillemme (allative singular)
aseillemme (allative plural)
asinamme (essive singular)
aseinamme (essive plural)
asiksemme (singular translative)
aseiksemme (plural translative)
asittamme (abessive singular)
aseittamme (abessive plural)
aseinemme (comitative plural)
asinne (nominative singular)
asinne (nominative plural)
asinne (accusative nominative singular)
asinne (accusative nominative plural)
asinne (accusative genitive singular)
asinne (accusative genitive plural)
asinne (genitive singular)
asienne (genitive plural)
asianne (partitive singular)
asejanne (partitive plural)
asissanne (inessive singular)
aseissanne (inessive plural)
asistanne (elative singular)
aseistanne (elative plural)
asiinne (illative singular)
aseihinne (illative plural)
asillanne (adessive singular)
aseillanne (adessive plural)
asiltanne (ablative singular)
aseiltanne (ablative plural)
asillenne (allative singular)
aseillenne (allative plural)
asinanne (essive singular)
aseinanne (essive plural)
asiksenne (singular translative)
aseiksenne (plural translative)
asittanne (abessive singular)
aseittanne (abessive plural)
aseinenne (comitative plural)
asinsa (nominative singular)
asinsa (nominative plural)
asinsa (accusative nominative singular)
asinsa (accusative nominative plural)
asinsa (accusative genitive singular)
asinsa (accusative genitive plural)
asinsa (genitive singular)
asiensa (genitive plural)
asiaan (partitive singular)
asiansa (partitive singular)
asejaan (partitive plural)
asejansa (partitive plural)
asissaan (inessive singular)
asissansa (inessive singular)
aseissaan (inessive plural)
aseissansa (inessive plural)
asistaan (elative singular)
asistansa (elative singular)
aseistaan (elative plural)
aseistansa (elative plural)
asiinsa (illative singular)
aseihinsa (illative plural)
asillaan (adessive singular)
asillansa (adessive singular)
aseillaan (adessive plural)
aseillansa (adessive plural)
asiltaan (ablative singular)
asiltansa (ablative singular)
aseiltaan (ablative plural)
aseiltansa (ablative plural)
asilleen (allative singular)
asillensa (allative singular)
aseilleen (allative plural)
aseillensa (allative plural)
asinaan (essive singular)
asinansa (essive singular)
aseinaan (essive plural)
aseinansa (essive plural)
asikseen (singular translative)
asiksensa (singular translative)
aseikseen (plural translative)
aseiksensa (plural translative)
asittaan (abessive singular)
asittansa (abessive singular)
aseittaan (abessive plural)
aseittansa (abessive plural)
aseineen (comitative plural)
aseinensa (comitative plural)


touch

en-noun

touch (countable and uncountable, plural touches)

From Middle English touchen, tochen, from Old French tochier (“to touch”) (whence Modern French toucher; compare French doublet toquer (“to offend, bother, harass”)), from Vulgar Latin *tuccō (“to knock, strike, offend”), from Frankish *tukkōn (“to knock, strike, touch”), from Proto-Germanic *tukkōną (“to tug, grab, grasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull, lead”). Displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine).
cognates
Cognate with Old High German zochhōn, zuhhōn (“to grasp, take, seize, snatch”) (whence German zucken (“to jerk, flinch”)), German Low German tucken, tocken (“to fidget, twitch, pull up, entice, throb, knock, repeatedly tap”), Middle Dutch tocken, tucken (“to touch, entice”) (whence Dutch tokkelen (“to strum, pluck”)), Old English tucian, tūcian (“to disturb, mistreat”) (whence Modern English tuck). Compare also Old High German tokkōn, tockōn (“to abut, collide”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Albanian cek (“to touch”), Old Church Slavonic тъкнѫти (tŭknǫti). More at tuck, take.

der

a heavy touch, or a light touch

(music) The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers.


translate

en-verb

translate (third-person singular simple present translates, present participle translating, simple past and past participle translated)

translates (present singular third-person)
translating (participle present)
translated (participle past)
translated (past)
translate (infinitive)

[ˈtʃɹʷɛ̃nzɫæe̯ʔ(t)]

From Middle English translaten (“to transport, translate, transform”), from Anglo-Norman translater, from Latin trānslātus, perfect passive participle of trānsferō (“to transport, carry across, translate”).
In this sense, displaced Old English wendan (“to translate,” also the word for “to turn” and “to change”).

traduir

to change (something) from one form or medium to another

транслирам

to move (something) from one place or position to another

If one were to chart the form of most film songs, translated into conventional terms used in Western music, one would likely see a structure that has an introduction and two or three stanzas: [...]

2015, Jayson Beaster-Jones, “Film Songs at the End of the Colonial Era and the Emergence of Filmi Style”, in Bollywood Sounds: The Cosmopolitan Mediations of Hindi Film Music, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.

(transitive) To change (something) from one form or medium to another.

(transitive, music) To rearrange (a song or music) in one genre into another.

sovittaa

to rearrange (a song or music) in one genre into another


gravity

en-noun

gravity (countable and uncountable, plural gravities)

Learned borrowing from Latin gravitās (“weight”) (compare French gravité), from gravis (“heavy”). Doublet of gravitas. First attested in the 16th century.


song

en-noun

song (countable and uncountable, plural songs)

→ Polish: song

From Middle English song, sang, from Old English sang, from Proto-West Germanic *sangu, from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz (“singing, song”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- (“to sing”). Cognate with Scots sang, song (“singing, song”), Saterland Frisian Song (“song”), West Frisian sang (“song”), Dutch zang (“song”), Low German sang (“song”), German Sang (“singing, song”), Swedish sång (“song”), Norwegian Bokmål sang (“song”), Norwegian Nynorsk song (“song”), Icelandic söngur (“song”), Ancient Greek ὀμφή (omphḗ, “voice, oracle”). More at sing.

cog

Thomas listened to his favorite song on the radio yesterday.

The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge

1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton, edited by J[ohn] S[tow], Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, →OCLC, page 290:

In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:

He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights,[…], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(music) A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by singing.


song

song (nominative singular)
songi (nominative plural)
songu (genitive singular)
songów (genitive plural)
songowi (dative singular)
songom (dative plural)
song (accusative singular)
songi (accusative plural)
songiem (instrumental singular)
songami (instrumental plural)
songu (locative singular)
songach (locative plural)
songu (singular vocative)
songi (plural vocative)

(music, theater) musical theater song, usually with social or political commentary


sana

sana (nominative singular)
sanat (nominative plural)
sana (accusative nominative singular)
sanat (accusative nominative plural)
sanan (accusative genitive singular)
sanat (accusative genitive plural)
sanan (genitive singular)
sanojen (genitive plural)
sanain (genitive plural rare)
sanaa (partitive singular)
sanoja (partitive plural)
sanassa (inessive singular)
sanoissa (inessive plural)
sanasta (elative singular)
sanoista (elative plural)
sanaan (illative singular)
sanoihin (illative plural)
sanalla (adessive singular)
sanoilla (adessive plural)
sanalta (ablative singular)
sanoilta (ablative plural)
sanalle (allative singular)
sanoille (allative plural)
sanana (essive singular)
sanoina (essive plural)
sanaksi (singular translative)
sanoiksi (plural translative)
sanatta (abessive singular)
sanoitta (abessive plural)
sanoin (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
sanani (nominative singular)
sanani (nominative plural)
sanani (accusative nominative singular)
sanani (accusative nominative plural)
sanani (accusative genitive singular)
sanani (accusative genitive plural)
sanani (genitive singular)
sanojeni (genitive plural)
sanaini (genitive plural rare)
sanaani (partitive singular)
sanojani (partitive plural)
sanassani (inessive singular)
sanoissani (inessive plural)
sanastani (elative singular)
sanoistani (elative plural)
sanaani (illative singular)
sanoihini (illative plural)
sanallani (adessive singular)
sanoillani (adessive plural)
sanaltani (ablative singular)
sanoiltani (ablative plural)
sanalleni (allative singular)
sanoilleni (allative plural)
sananani (essive singular)
sanoinani (essive plural)
sanakseni (singular translative)
sanoikseni (plural translative)
sanattani (abessive singular)
sanoittani (abessive plural)
sanoineni (comitative plural)
sanasi (nominative singular)
sanasi (nominative plural)
sanasi (accusative nominative singular)
sanasi (accusative nominative plural)
sanasi (accusative genitive singular)
sanasi (accusative genitive plural)
sanasi (genitive singular)
sanojesi (genitive plural)
sanaisi (genitive plural rare)
sanaasi (partitive singular)
sanojasi (partitive plural)
sanassasi (inessive singular)
sanoissasi (inessive plural)
sanastasi (elative singular)
sanoistasi (elative plural)
sanaasi (illative singular)
sanoihisi (illative plural)
sanallasi (adessive singular)
sanoillasi (adessive plural)
sanaltasi (ablative singular)
sanoiltasi (ablative plural)
sanallesi (allative singular)
sanoillesi (allative plural)
sananasi (essive singular)
sanoinasi (essive plural)
sanaksesi (singular translative)
sanoiksesi (plural translative)
sanattasi (abessive singular)
sanoittasi (abessive plural)
sanoinesi (comitative plural)
sanamme (nominative singular)
sanamme (nominative plural)
sanamme (accusative nominative singular)
sanamme (accusative nominative plural)
sanamme (accusative genitive singular)
sanamme (accusative genitive plural)
sanamme (genitive singular)
sanojemme (genitive plural)
sanaimme (genitive plural rare)
sanaamme (partitive singular)
sanojamme (partitive plural)
sanassamme (inessive singular)
sanoissamme (inessive plural)
sanastamme (elative singular)
sanoistamme (elative plural)
sanaamme (illative singular)
sanoihimme (illative plural)
sanallamme (adessive singular)
sanoillamme (adessive plural)
sanaltamme (ablative singular)
sanoiltamme (ablative plural)
sanallemme (allative singular)
sanoillemme (allative plural)
sananamme (essive singular)
sanoinamme (essive plural)
sanaksemme (singular translative)
sanoiksemme (plural translative)
sanattamme (abessive singular)
sanoittamme (abessive plural)
sanoinemme (comitative plural)
sananne (nominative singular)
sananne (nominative plural)
sananne (accusative nominative singular)
sananne (accusative nominative plural)
sananne (accusative genitive singular)
sananne (accusative genitive plural)
sananne (genitive singular)
sanojenne (genitive plural)
sanainne (genitive plural rare)
sanaanne (partitive singular)
sanojanne (partitive plural)
sanassanne (inessive singular)
sanoissanne (inessive plural)
sanastanne (elative singular)
sanoistanne (elative plural)
sanaanne (illative singular)
sanoihinne (illative plural)
sanallanne (adessive singular)
sanoillanne (adessive plural)
sanaltanne (ablative singular)
sanoiltanne (ablative plural)
sanallenne (allative singular)
sanoillenne (allative plural)
sanananne (essive singular)
sanoinanne (essive plural)
sanaksenne (singular translative)
sanoiksenne (plural translative)
sanattanne (abessive singular)
sanoittanne (abessive plural)
sanoinenne (comitative plural)
sanansa (nominative singular)
sanansa (nominative plural)
sanansa (accusative nominative singular)
sanansa (accusative nominative plural)
sanansa (accusative genitive singular)
sanansa (accusative genitive plural)
sanansa (genitive singular)
sanojensa (genitive plural)
sanainsa (genitive plural rare)
sanaansa (partitive singular)
sanojaan (partitive plural)
sanojansa (partitive plural)
sanassaan (inessive singular)
sanassansa (inessive singular)
sanoissaan (inessive plural)
sanoissansa (inessive plural)
sanastaan (elative singular)
sanastansa (elative singular)
sanoistaan (elative plural)
sanoistansa (elative plural)
sanaansa (illative singular)
sanoihinsa (illative plural)
sanallaan (adessive singular)
sanallansa (adessive singular)
sanoillaan (adessive plural)
sanoillansa (adessive plural)
sanaltaan (ablative singular)
sanaltansa (ablative singular)
sanoiltaan (ablative plural)
sanoiltansa (ablative plural)
sanalleen (allative singular)
sanallensa (allative singular)
sanoilleen (allative plural)
sanoillensa (allative plural)
sananaan (essive singular)
sananansa (essive singular)
sanoinaan (essive plural)
sanoinansa (essive plural)
sanakseen (singular translative)
sanaksensa (singular translative)
sanoikseen (plural translative)
sanoiksensa (plural translative)
sanattaan (abessive singular)
sanattansa (abessive singular)
sanoittaan (abessive plural)
sanoittansa (abessive plural)
sanoineen (comitative plural)
sanoinensa (comitative plural)

(music, in the plural) lyrics (words to a song)


ad lib

Abbreviation of ad libitum, borrowed from New Latin ad libitum.

(music, chiefly hip-hop) Improvised vocals added after the main vocals have been recorded which serve to emphasize the rhythm or fill the lyrical bar line.


ad lib

en-verb

ad lib (third-person singular simple present ad libs, present participle ad libbing, simple past and past participle ad libbed)

ad libs (present singular third-person)
ad libbing (participle present)
ad libbed (participle past)
ad libbed (past)

(music, chiefly hip hop, intransitive) To perform ad libs; to improvise lyrics after the main lyrics have been recorded.

(music, chiefly hip hop, transitive) To perform (lyrics) as ad libs.


re

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English re (“second degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian re in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin resonāre (“made to resound”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

inh

(music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.


re

(music) re (second note of diatonic scale)


re

re's (plural)
re'tje (diminutive neuter)

(Netherlands, music) re (second note of a major scale)


re

Through 17th century Italian. The first syllable of Latin resonāre (“to resound”), the first word of the second line of the medieval hymn Ut queant laxis, from which the solfège syllables were taken because its successive lines started each on the next note of the scale.

(music) re, D (second note in the major scale)


re

re-en (definite singular)
re-ar (indefinite plural)
re-ane (definite plural)

(music) re a syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.


voice

→ Russian: войс (vojs) (slang, from "voice message")

From Middle English voice, voys, vois, borrowed from Anglo-Norman voiz, voys, voice, Old French vois, voiz (Modern French voix), from Latin vōcem, accusative form of vōx (“voice”), from Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs, root noun from *wekʷ- (“to utter, speak”). Cognate with Sanskrit वाच् (vāc), Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps), Persian آواز (âvâz). Displaced native Middle English steven (“voice”) (from Old English stefn (see steven)), Old English hlēoþor, and Old English woþ. Broadly overtook Old English reord. Compare advocate, advowson, avouch, convoke, epic, vocal, vouch, vowel. Doublet of vox.

the voice of the people, the voice of God

The theme of this piece constantly migrates between the three voice parts.

(music) In harmony, an independent vocal or instrumental part in a piece of composition.

stemme

music: independent vocal or instrumental part


not

From Dutch noot, from Middle Dutch note, from Old French note, from Latin nota. Doublet of nota.

(music) note, a character, variously formed, to indicate the length of a tone, and variously placed upon the staff to indicate its pitch.


not

head

not m (genitive singular not, plural notaichean)

not (genitive singular)
notaichean (plural)

Borrowed from English note. The "money" sense comes from the now-rare £1 note.


not

not (indefinite nominative singular)
noten (definite nominative singular)
noter (indefinite nominative plural)
noterna (definite nominative plural)
nots (genitive indefinite singular)
notens (definite genitive singular)
noters (genitive indefinite plural)
noternas (definite genitive plural)

From Old French note (noun), noter (verb), both from Latin nota.


lied

Borrowed from German Lied (“song”). Doublet of leed, which was inherited by Old English lēoþ (“poem”).

(music) An art song, usually sung solo in German and accompanied on the piano.


inflect

en-verb

inflect (third-person singular simple present inflects, present participle inflecting, simple past and past participle inflected)

inflects (present singular third-person)
inflecting (participle present)
inflected (participle past)
inflected (past)

From Latin īnflectō, from in- (“in”) + flectō (“I bend”).

The actress has a great skill of being able to inflect her voice to any situation.

(transitive, music) To change the tone or pitch of the voice when speaking or singing.


got

gotka (feminine)
got (nominative singular)
goci (nominative plural)
goty (derogatory nominative plural)
gota (genitive singular)
gotów (genitive plural)
gotowi (dative singular)
gotom (dative plural)
gota (accusative singular)
gotów (accusative plural)
gotem (instrumental singular)
gotami (instrumental plural)
gocie (locative singular)
gotach (locative plural)
gocie (singular vocative)
goci (plural vocative)

(music) goth (person who is part of the goth subculture)


heel

From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock.
Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

(music) The thickening of the neck of a stringed instrument where it attaches to the body.


so

Shortened from sol, to make it an open syllable for uniformity with the rest of the scale, from Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (“fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (“wash away”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

inh

(music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the fifth note of a major scale.


vocal

en-adj

vocal (comparative more vocal, superlative most vocal)

more vocal (comparative)
most vocal (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-vocal.wav

Late Middle English vocal, borrowed from Latin vōcālis (“uttering a voice, sounding, speaking”), from vōx (“a voice, sound, tone”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of vowel and vocalis. Compare Old French vocal.

af

Of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.

(music) Relating to, composed or arranged for, or sung by the human voice.


vocal

Best cuts: "The Evil Dude," "Kung Fu, Too!" "Mama Love," "New Orleans" (with a punchy vocal by Teresa Brewer).

1975, Billboard, volume 87, number 24, page 50:

(music) A part of a piece of music that is sung.

(acting) A musical performance involving singing.


neck

From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca (“neck, nape”), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (“nape, neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (“back of the head, nape, neck”). Cognate with Scots nek (“neck”), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak (“neck”), Saterland Frisian Näkke (“neck”), West Frisian nekke (“neck”), Dutch nek (“neck”), German Low German Nack (“neck”), German Nacken (“nape of the neck”), Danish nakke (“neck”), Swedish nacke (“nape of the neck”), Icelandic hnakki (“neck”), Tocharian A kñuk (“neck, nape”). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old English hnocc (“hook, penis”), Welsh cnwch (“joint, knob”), Latvian knaūķis (“dwarf”). Doublet of nek. More at nook. Displaced halse (“neck, throat”) and swire (“neck”).

(music) The extension of any stringed instrument on which a fingerboard is mounted


bind

From Middle English binden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-West Germanic *bindan, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną (compare West Frisian bine, Dutch binden, Low German binnen, German binden, Danish binde), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti, from *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”).
Compare Welsh benn (“cart”), Latin offendīx (“knot, band”), Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”), Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”), Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”), Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”), Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati). Doublet of bandana.

cog

(music) A ligature or tie for grouping notes.


bend

en-verb

bend (third-person singular simple present bends, present participle bending, simple past and past participle bent or (archaic) bended)

bends (present singular third-person)
bending (participle present)
bent (participle past)
bent (past)
bended (archaic participle past)
bended (archaic past)

From Middle English benden, from Old English bendan (“to bind or bend (a bow), fetter, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bandijan, from Proto-Germanic *bandijaną (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind, tie”). Cognate with Middle High German benden (“to fetter”), Danish bænde (“to bend”), Norwegian bende (“to bend”), Faroese benda (“to bend, inflect”), Icelandic benda (“to bend”). Related to band, bond.

der

You should bend the G slightly sharp in the next measure.

(transitive, music) To smoothly change the pitch of a note.


bend

(music) A glissando, or glide between one pitch and another.


bend

(music, electric guitar) bend (change in pitch produced by bending a string)


bend

bȅnd (canonical masculine)
бе̏нд (Cyrillic)
bȅnd (nominative singular)
bendovi (nominative plural)
bendi (nominative plural)
benda (genitive singular)
bendova (genitive plural)
benda (genitive plural)
bendu (dative singular)
bendovima (dative plural)
bendima (dative plural)
bȅnd (accusative singular)
bendove (accusative plural)
bende (accusative plural)
bȅnde (singular vocative)
bendovi (plural vocative)
bendi (plural vocative)
bendu (locative singular)
bendovima (locative plural)
bendima (locative plural)
bendom (instrumental singular)
bendovima (instrumental plural)
bendima (instrumental plural)


lead

en-noun

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

From Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to leave, die”).
Cognate with West Frisian liede (“to lead”), Dutch leiden (“to lead”), German leiten (“to lead”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lede (“to lead”), Norwegian Nynorsk leia (“to lead”), Swedish leda (“to lead”). Related to Old English līþan (“to go, travel”).

der

(music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor

(music) The announcement by one voice part of a theme to be repeated by the other parts.

(music) A mark or a short passage in one voice part, as of a canon, serving as a cue for the entrance of others.


distance

en-noun

distance (countable and uncountable, plural distances)

From Middle English distance, distaunce, destance (“disagreement, dispute; discrimination; armed conflict; hostility; trouble; space between two points; time interval”), from Anglo-Norman distance, distaunce, destance, Middle French distance, and Old French destance, destaunce, distaunce (“debate; difference, distinction; discord, quarrel; dispute; space between two points; time interval”) (modern French distance), and directly from their etymon Latin distantia (“difference, diversity; distance, remoteness; space between two points”) (whence also Late Latin distantia (“disagreement; discrepancy; gap, opening; time interval”)), from distāns (“being distant; standing apart”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Distāns is the present active participle of distō (“to be distant; to stand apart; to differ”), from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder; in two’) + stō (“to stand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.
cognates
* Middle Dutch distancie, distantie (modern Dutch distantie); Dutch afstand (“distance”, literally “off-stand, off-stance”)
* German Distanz; German Abstand
* Italian distanza
* Portuguese distância
* Spanish distancia

afstand

(countable, uncountable) amount of space between points

[N]other perceaueth the concordaunt and diſcordante diſtaunces of ſoundes, and tunes […]

1551, Thomas More, “The Second Boke of the Communycacion of Raphael Hythlodaye, Concernynge the Best State of a Commen Wealthe: Cõteynyng the Discription of Utopia, with a Large Declaration of the Godly Gouernement, and of All the Good Lawes and Orders of the Same Ilande. Of Their Iourneyenge or Trauaylynge abrode, with Dyuers Other Matters Cunnyngly Reasoned & Wittilie Discussed.”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC, signature [M.vj.], verso:

(music) A difference in pitch between sounds; an interval.


dig

From Middle English diggen (“to dig”), alteration of Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, to mound up earth”) (compare Old English dīcere (“digger”)) from dīc, dīċ (“dike, ditch”) from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz, *dīkiją (“pool, puddle”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”). Additionally, Middle English diggen may derive from an unrecorded suffixed variant, *dīcgian. Akin to Danish dige (“to dig, raise a dike”), Swedish dika (“to dig ditches”). Related to Middle French diguer (“to dig”), from Old French dikier, itself a borrowing of the same Germanic root (from Middle Dutch dijc). More at ditch, dike.

der

a £1 charity shop dig

(music, slang) A rare or interesting vinyl record bought second-hand.


士

(music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note low la (6̣).


sound

en-noun

sound (countable and uncountable, plural sounds)

→ German: Sound

→ Japanese: サウンド (saundo)

→ Swedish: sound

* Noun: from Middle English sownde, alteration of soun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sun, soun, Old French son, from accusative of Latin sonus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
* Verb: from Middle English sownden, sounen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suner, sounder, Old French soner (modern sonner), from Latin sonō.
* The hypercorrect -d appears in the fifteenth century. (Compare dialectal drownd, gownd for the same development.)
Displaced native Middle English swei, from Old English swēġ, from Proto-Germanic *swōgiz.

der

He looks like he's got it, maybe. Listen to those kids!/There's no maybe about it. That's it, that's the sound.

1954, Valentine Davies et al., The Glenn Miller Story:

(music) A distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician, orchestra etc.


sound

(music) sound (distinctive style and sonority)


sound

sound (indefinite nominative singular)
soundet (definite nominative singular)
sound (indefinite nominative plural)
sounden (definite nominative plural)
sounds (genitive indefinite singular)
soundets (definite genitive singular)
sounds (genitive indefinite plural)
soundens (definite genitive plural)

Borrowed from English sound. Attested since 1954.

Gruppen har ett unikt sound


overdraw

en-verb

overdraw (third-person singular simple present overdraws, present participle overdrawing, simple past overdrew, past participle overdrawn)

overdraws (present singular third-person)
overdrawing (participle present)
overdrew (past)
overdrawn (participle past)

(music) To draw the air in through a harmonica while adjusting the mouth so that the note goes up a half tone.


pain

Haitian Creole: pen

Karipúna Creole French: djipẽ

→ Farefare: pãanɛ

⇒ Khmer: នំប៉័ង (num pang)

desc

→ Xârâcùù: pêê

→ Xârâcùù: pêê

Inherited from Middle French pain, from Old French pain, from Latin pānem.

(slang, music) mistake during a performance (false note, forgot an intro, wrong solo, …)


axe

From Middle English ax, axe, ex, from Old English æx, from Proto-West Germanic *akusi, from Proto-Germanic *akwisī, probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷsih₂ (“axe”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). Compare German Axt, Dutch aks, Danish økse, Icelandic öxi, and also Latin ascia.

(slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.


catch

en-noun

catch (countable and uncountable, plural catches)

From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, variant of Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Compare ketch. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English fōn (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch" and heavily displaced Modern English latch), from Old English læċċan.
The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læċċan), whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte), until becoming regularised in Modern English.

gloss

Let us be jocund: will you troll the catch / You taught me but while-ere?

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

One night, I remember, we sang a catch, written (words and music) by Orlo Williams, for three voices.

1966, Allen Tate, T. S. Eliot: The Man and His Work, page 76:

(countable, music) A type of humorous round in which the voices gradually catch up with one another; usually sung by men and often having bawdy lyrics.

The phrase repeated itself like the catch of a song.

2003, Robert Hugh Benson, Come Rack! Come Rope!, page 268:

(countable, music) The refrain; a line or lines of a song which are repeated from verse to verse.


spelling

en-noun

spelling (countable and uncountable, plural spellings)

orthography

precisely hypernymous but loosely synonymous

The spelling of a pitch is strongly influenced by its harmonic and melodic context.

2004, Joshua Stoddard, Christopher Raphael, Paul E. Utgoff, Well-Tempered Spelling: A Key-Invariant Pitch Spelling Algorithm, page 1:

(music) A choice of notation among enharmonic equivalents for the same pitch.


addition

addition (countable and uncountable, plural additions)

Sense of “what is added” dates from 14th century, from Middle English addicioun, addition, from Old French adition, from Latin additiōnem, accusative singular of additiō, from addō (“add, put”).

(music) A dot at the right side of a note as an indication that its sound is to be lengthened one half.


me

From mi (“third note of a major scale”) + -e (“flat”), from Glover's solmization, Italian mi in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin mīra in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

af

(music) The solfeggio syllable used to indicate the flat of the third note of a major scale.


conductor

Borrowed from Middle French conductour, from Old French conduitor, from Latin conductor.

(music) A person who conducts an orchestra, choir or other music ensemble; a professional whose occupation is conducting.


grind

en-noun

grind (countable and uncountable, plural grinds)

From Middle English grynden, from Old English grindan, from Proto-West Germanic *grindan, from Proto-Germanic *grindaną.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian gríende, griene (“to grind, mill”), Dutch grinden (“to grind”, rare) and grind (“gravel, shingle”), Albanian grind (“to brawl, fight”).

(uncountable, music) Clipping of grindcore (“subgenre of heavy metal”).


foot

foot (plural feet or (UK colloquial, unit of measure) foot)

→ Assamese: ফুট (phut)

q

from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">feet</i>

→ Japanese: フット (futto), フート (fūto); フィート (fīto) (from feet)

→ Russian: фут (fut)

Sranan Tongo: futu

Aukan: futu

Saramaccan: fútu

→ Swahili: futi

→ Thai: ฟุต (fút)

Tok Pisin: fut, put

→ Urdu: فٹ (fuṭ)

→ Phalura: fuṭ

From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes, pie (“Spanish unit of length”), and pous.

doublet

not touch something with a ten-foot pole

you cannot put the same shoe on every foot

(music) A unit of measure for organ pipes equal to the wavelength of two octaves above middle C, approximately 328 mm.


stride

en-noun

stride (countable and uncountable, plural strides)

From Middle English stride, stryde, from Old English stride (“a stride, pace”), from the verb (see above). Doublet of strid.

(uncountable, music) A jazz piano style of the 1920s and 1930s. The left hand characteristically plays a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and third beats, and a chord on the second and fourth beats.


bright

en-adj

bright (comparative brighter, superlative brightest)

brighter (comparative)
brightest (superlative)

The adjective is from Middle English bright, from Old English beorht, from Proto-West Germanic *berht, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to shine, to gleam, whiten”).
The noun is derived from Middle English bright (“brightness, brilliance; daylight; light”), from bright (adjective): see above.
The English word is cognate with Albanian bardhë (“white”), Dutch brecht (in personal names), Icelandic bjartur (“bright”), Lithuanian brekšta (“to dawn”), Middle Irish brafad (“blink of an eye”), Norwegian bjart (“bright, clear, shining”), Persian برازیدن (barâzidan, “to beautify; to befit”), Northern Luri بڵێز (bełız, “blaze”) Russian бре́зжить (brézžitʹ, “to dawn; to flicker faintly, glimmer; (figuratively) of a hope, thought, etc.: to begin to manifest, emerge”), Sanskrit भ्राजते (bhrājate), Scots bricht (“bright”), Welsh berth (“beautiful, fair, fine”) (obsolete).

cog

the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long

(music) Of a rhythm or tempo: lively, upbeat.

(figuratively)
(music) Of a note: slightly sharp.


underlay

/ˈʌndəɹˌleɪ/

From Middle English underlay, underlei, equivalent to under- + lay.

The underlay in bar 3 is unclear in Handel's manuscript.

(music) Lyrics; or more specifically, the way in which lyrics are assigned to musical notes.


brush

en-noun

brush (countable and uncountable, plural brushes)

From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.

der

(music) An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). The word is a doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.

The effect was weird, because with that intuitive sense possessed by the African, every drummer knew exactly when the “breaks” were coming, and whole banks of bass drums would drop out precisely on the beat.

1937, Ivan T. Sanderson, Animal Treasure, page 233:

(music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

tauko

music: short section of music in which some performers stop

Crossing the break smoothly is one of the first lessons the young clarinettist needs to master.

(music) The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.

34. Of the Registers of the Voice - All singers have observed that there are certain parts of the Vocal Scale where a break, as it is called, seldom fails to occur.

1862, John Winebrenner, The Serephina, Or, Christian Library of Church Music, page 13:

The point of division between the two vocal registers is most frequently referred to as the register’s break.

2007, S. Anthony Frisella, The Baritone Voice: A Personal Guide to Acquiring a Superior Singing Technique, page 14:

Boys should continue in their high voice, across the break to the lower range, and end up with a voice that doesn’t have a break (Leck, 2009).

2018, Karen Brunssen, The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Across the Lifespan, page 76:

(music) The transition area between a singer's vocal registers; the passaggio.

passaggio

music: a transition area between a singer’s vocal registers


break

Clipping of breakdown (the percussion break of songs chosen by a DJ for use in hip-hop music) and see also breakdancing.

gloss

The smooth criminal on beat breaks / Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes

1994, “N.Y. State of Mind”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:

(music) A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as rhythmic dance music.


break

en-verb

break (third-person singular simple present breaks, present participle breaking, simple past and past participle breaked)

breaks (present singular third-person)
breaking (participle present)
breaked (participle past)
breaked (past)

Let the poppers pop and the breakers break / We're cool, cool cats, it's like that

1985, “King of Rock”, performed by Run-DMC:


attack

Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Old English on rǣsan (“to attack”) and onrǣs (“an attack”).

Eric Reed was a curious choice as pianist, since his busy Petersonian attack is the antithesis of Lewis's, but he acquitted himself with panache, […]

2004, Gary Giddins, Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century, page 322:

(music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.


twang

Onomatopoeic. Compare Middle English twengen (“to pinch, tweak”), from Old English twenġen (“to pinch, twinge”); Middle English twingen (“to afflict, torment, oppress”), from Old Norse þvinga (“to weigh down, oppress”); Old English twingan (“to force, press”).

cog

(music) A particular sharp vibrating sound characteristic of electric guitars.


twang

en-verb

twang (third-person singular simple present twangs, present participle twanging, simple past and past participle twanged)

twangs (present singular third-person)
twanging (participle present)
twanged (participle past)
twanged (past)

(music) To play a stringed musical instrument by plucking and snapping.

näppäillä

music: to play a stringed musical instrument by plucking and snapping


shed

shed (third-person singular simple present sheds, present participle shedding, simple past and past participle shed or (nonstandard) shedded)

sheds (present singular third-person)
shedding (participle present)
shed (participle past)
shed (past)
shedded (nonstandard participle past)
shedded (nonstandard past)

From Middle English scheden, schede, from Old English scēadan, scādan (“to separate, divide, part, make a line of separation between; remove from association or companionship; distinguish, discriminate, decide, determine, appoint; shatter, shed; expound; decree; write down; differ”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną (compare West Frisian skiede, Dutch and German scheiden), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt- (“to cut, part, divide, separate”), from *skey-.
See also Welsh chwydu (“to break open”), Lithuanian skėsti (“to spread”), skíesti (“to separate”), Old Church Slavonic цѣдити (cěditi, “to filter, strain”), Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), Old Armenian ցտեմ (cʻtem, “to scratch”), Sanskrit च्यति (cyáti, “he cuts off”)). Related to shoad, shit, sheath.

cog

(music, slang) Alternative form of woodshed


shed

en-verb

shed (third-person singular simple present sheds, present participle shedding, simple past and past participle shedded)

sheds (present singular third-person)
shedding (participle present)
shedded (participle past)
shedded (past)

Dialectal variant of a specialized use of shade.


shake

From Middle English schaken, from Old English sċeacan, sċacan (“to shake”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakan, from Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, swing, escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keg-, *(s)kek- (“to jump, move”).
Cognate with Scots schake, schack (“to shake”), West Frisian schaekje (“to shake”), Dutch schaken (“to elope, make clean, shake”), Low German schaken (“to move, shift, push, shake”) and schacken (“to shake, shock”), Old Norse skaka (“to shaka”), Norwegian Nynorsk skaka (“to shake”), Swedish skaka (“to shake”), Danish skage (“to shake”), Dutch schokken (“to shake, shock”), Russian скака́ть (skakátʹ, “to jump”). More at shock.

cog

(music) A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill.

A Signora Rossinuola, with the face of a goddess, and the voice of an angel, made her first curtsy that evening to the Neapolitans. She was received with the most rapturous applause. Nothing was heard of next day but her shake and her smile.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 263:

(music) In singing, notes (usually high ones) sung vibrato.


bell

→ Fiji Hindi: belo

→ Japanese: ベル (beru)

→ Korean: 벨 (bel)

From Middle English belle, from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel, Dutch bel, Low German Belle, Bel, Danish bjelde, Swedish bjällra, Norwegian bjelle, Icelandic bjalla.

HEAR the sledges with the bells —
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

(music) A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck.

(music) The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.

камбановидно разширение

the flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument


swell

en-noun

swell (countable and uncountable, plural swells)

From Middle English swelle, from the verb swellen (modern swell).

He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.

(music) A gradual crescendo followed by diminuendo.

起伏

music: gradual crescendo followed by diminuendo

(music) A device for controlling the volume of a pipe organ.

kivimbe

music: device for controlling the volume of a pipe organ

(music) A division in a pipe organ, usually the largest enclosed division.


analysis

analysis (countable and uncountable, plural analyses)

From Medieval Latin analysis, from Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis), from ἀναλύω (analúō, “I unravel, investigate”), from ἀνα- (ana-, “thoroughly”) + λύω (lúō, “I loosen”).

language analysis for the determination of origin

List of terms used in mathematical analysis

(uncountable, music) The analytical study of melodies, harmonies, sequences, repetitions, variations, quotations, juxtapositions, and surprises.


string

string (countable and uncountable, plural strings)

Tok Pisin: string

→ Dutch: string

→ Finnish: stringit

→ French: string

→ German: String

desc

מחרוז//מַחְרֹזֶת

→ Hebrew: מחרוז／מַחְרֹזֶת (makhrózet) (semantic loan)

→ Japanese: ストリング (sutoringu)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: streng (semantic loan)

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: streng (semantic loan)

→ Polish: stringi

→ Portuguese: estrém; string

→ Swedish: string

From Middle English string, streng, strynge, from Old English strenġ, from Proto-West Germanic *strangi, from Proto-Germanic *strangiz (“string”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“rope, cord, strand; to tighten”).
Cognate with Scots string (“string”), Dutch streng (“cord, strand”), Low German strenge (“strand, cord, rope”), German Strang (“strand, cord, rope”), Danish streng (“string”), Swedish sträng (“string, cord, wire”), Icelandic strengur (“string”), Latvian stringt (“to be tight, wither”), Latin stringō (“I tighten”), Ancient Greek στραγγαλόομαι (strangalóomai, “to strangle”), from στραγγάλη (strangálē, “halter”), Ancient Greek στραγγός (strangós, “tied together, entangled, twisted”).

cog

στραγγαλόομαι

弦

any similar long, thin and flexible object

弓弦

ゆづる, yuzuru, ゆみづる, yumizuru, ゆんづる, yunzuru

a violinstring

a bowstring

(countable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.

(music) A segment of wire (typically made of plastic or metal) or other material used as vibrating element on a musical instrument.

(music, metonymically, countable) A stringed instrument.

(music, usually in the plural) The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments.


tongue

en-noun

tongue (countable and uncountable, plural tongues)

Australian Kriol: tang

Bislama: tang

Sranan Tongo: tongo

Tok Pisin: tang

Torres Strait Creole: tang

From Middle English tonge, tunge, tung, from Old English tunge, from Proto-West Germanic *tungā, from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ (“tongue”) (compare West Frisian tonge, Dutch tong, Luxembourgish Zong, German Zunge, Yiddish צונג (tsung), Danish tunge, Norwegian Bokmål tunge, Swedish tunga, Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉 (tuggō)), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s. Cognate with Old Irish tengae, Latin lingua, Tocharian A käntu, Tocharian B kantwo, Lithuanian liežùvis, Russian язык (jazyk), Polish język, Old Armenian լեզու (lezu), Avestan 𐬵𐬌𐬰𐬎𐬎𐬁 (hizuuā), Zazaki Zon, Ashkun žū, Kamkata-viri dić, Sanskrit जिह्वा (jihvā́). Doublet of language and lingua.

puhe

uncountable: discourse, fluency of speech


tongue

en-verb

tongue (third-person singular simple present tongues, present participle tonguing, simple past and past participle tongued)

tongues (present singular third-person)
tonguing (participle present)
tongued (participle past)
tongued (past)

have something on the tip of one's tongue

Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece.

(music, transitive, intransitive) On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).


slide

slide (third-person singular simple present slides, present participle sliding, simple past slid, past participle slid or (archaic) slidden)

slides (present singular third-person)
sliding (participle present)
slid (past)
slid (participle past)
slidden (archaic participle past)

→ Japanese: スライド (suraido)

From Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan (“to slide”), from Proto-West Germanic *slīdan, from Proto-Germanic *slīdaną (“to slide, glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sléydʰ-e-ti, from *sleydʰ- (“slippery”). Cognate with Old High German slītan (“to slide”) (whence German schlittern), Middle Low German slīden (“to slide”), Middle Dutch slīden (“to slide”) (whence Dutch slijderen, frequentative of now obsolete slijden), Vedic Sanskrit स्रेधति (srédhati, “to err, blunder”).

cog

(music) To smoothly pass from one note to another by bending the pitch upwards or downwards.

liukua

music: to smoothly pass from one note to another


slide

→ Czech: slajd

→ Japanese: スライド (suraido)

→ Persian: اسلاید (eslâyd)

→ Polish: slajd

→ Portuguese: slide

(music, guitar) A hand-held device made of smooth, hard material, used in the practice of slide guitar.

(traditional Irish music and dance) A lively dance from County Kerry, in 12/8 time.

(music) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below.


slide

(music) slide (device for playing slide guitar)

(music) slide (guitar technique where the player moves finger up or down the fretboard)


do

Coined by Italian musicologist Giovanni Battista Doni in 1635 as an easier-to-sing open-syllable revision to the solmization ut of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin Dominus (“The Lᴏʀᴅ”) (speculated by some to be an ulterior abbreviation of Giovanni Battista Doni) on the pattern of other Latinate solfège with the stated justification that God is the tonic and root of the world.

coin

(music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale.


do

(music) do (first note of diatonic scale)


do

dos (genitive singular)
do (plural)
do (indefinite nominative singular)
doið (definite nominative singular)
do (indefinite nominative plural)
doini (definite nominative plural)
do (accusative indefinite singular)
doið (accusative definite singular)
do (accusative indefinite plural)
doini (accusative definite plural)
doi (dative indefinite singular)
doinum (dative definite singular)
doum (dative indefinite plural)
dounum (dative definite plural)
dos (genitive indefinite singular)
dosins (definite genitive singular)
doa (genitive indefinite plural)
doanna (definite genitive plural)


do

do-en (definite singular)
do-ar (indefinite plural)
do-ane (definite plural)

From the name of musicologist Giovanni Battista Doni, who suggested replacing the original ut with an open syllable for ease of singing. First found in Italian.

(music) do, a syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.


hit

en-verb

hit (third-person singular simple present hits, present participle hitting, simple past hit or (dialectal, obsolete) hat or (rare, dialectal) het, past participle hit or (archaic, rare, dialectal) hitten)

hits (present singular third-person)
hitting (participle present)
hit (past)
hat (dialectal obsolete past)
het (dialectal past rare)
hit (participle past)
hitten (archaic dialectal participle past rare)

miss

antonym(s) of “manage to touch in the right place”

From Middle English hitten (“to hit, strike, make contact with”), from Old English hittan (“to meet with, come upon, fall in with”), from Old Norse hitta (“to strike, meet”), from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną (“to come upon, find”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- (“to fall; fall upon; hit; cut; hew”).
Cognate with Icelandic hitta (“to meet”), Danish hitte (“to find”), Latin caedō (“to kill”), Albanian qit (“to hit, throw, pull out, release”).

cog

don't let the door hit you on the way out

let the door hit you where the good Lord split you

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

I'd love to hear your band play.
Hit it boys!

(transitive, music, informal) To commence playing.


hit

hit (nominative singular)
hity (nominative plural)
hitu (genitive singular)
hitów (genitive plural)
hitowi (dative singular)
hitom (dative plural)
hit (accusative singular)
hity (accusative plural)
hitem (instrumental singular)
hitami (instrumental plural)
hicie (locative singular)
hitach (locative plural)
hicie (singular vocative)
hity (plural vocative)

Borrowed from English hit, from Middle English hitten, from Old English hittan, from Old Norse hitta, from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.

(music) hit (a success, especially in the entertainment industry)


family

en-noun

family (countable and uncountable, plural families)

Jamaican Creole: faambli, fambili

Tok Pisin: famili

Sranan Tongo: famiri

→ Chuukese: famini

→ Malay: famili

→ Maori: whāmere

From Late Middle English famylye, from Latin familia (“a household”). Displaced native Old English hīred. Doublet of familia.

عَائِلَة

group of people related by blood, marriage, law, or custom

the family that lays together stays together

the family that prays together stays together

the family that sleeps together keeps together

the brass family;  the violin family

(countable, music) A group of instruments having the same basic method of tone production.

ընտանիք

music: a group of instruments having the same basic method of tone production


swing

en-verb

swing (third-person singular simple present swings, present participle swinging, simple past swung or (archaic or dialectal) swang, past participle swung or (archaic) swungen)

swings (present singular third-person)
swinging (participle present)
swung (past)
swang (archaic dialectal past)
swung (participle past)
swungen (archaic participle past)

From Middle English swyngen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-West Germanic *swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *swenk-, *sweng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang (“thin”)). Related to swink.

lyödä kierre

cricket: to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory

at church every time the doors swing open

(transitive, music) To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second shorter, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.

svengata

music: to produce a bouncy, uneven rhythm


swing

en-noun

swing (countable and uncountable, plural swings)

what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

It makes no diff'rence / if it's sweet or hot. / Just give that rhythm / ev'rything you've got! / It don't mean a thing / if it ain't got that swing.

1931, “It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)”, Irving Mills (lyrics), Duke Ellington (music), performed by Ivie Anderson with Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, Brunswick, catalog number 6265:

(music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.


acoustic

Borrowed from Medieval Latin acousticus, from Ancient Greek ἀκουστῐκός (akoustikós, “of or for hearing”), from ἀκούω (akoúō, “to hear”) + -ῐκός (-ikós, adjectival suffix). Sense 4 ("autistic") was popularized on TikTok in late October 2023.

صَوْتِيّ

pertaining to hearing or the science of sounds

acoustic guitar, acoustic piano

(music) Naturally producing or produced by an instrument without electrical amplification or the need thereof.

акустичен

producing or produced without electrical amplification


split

→ Irish: spliota

Attested since about 1567, from Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”) and/or Middle Low German splitten (“to split”), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive form of Proto-West Germanic *splītan (“to split”), from Proto-Germanic *splītaną (whence Danish splitte, Low German splieten, German spleißen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).
Compare Middle English ysplett (“split”, past participle of splatten (“to split”)), Old English speld (“splinter”), Old High German spaltan (“to split”), Old Irish sliss (“splinter”), Lithuanian spaliai (“flax sheaves”), Czech půl (“half”), Old Church Slavonic рас-плитати (ras-plitati, “to cleave, split”).

cog

past participle of <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">splatten</i> (“to split”)

(music) A recording containing songs by multiple artists; a split single.


ride

en-verb

ride (third-person singular simple present rides, present participle riding, simple past rode or (obsolete) rade or (obsolete) rid, past participle ridden or (now colloquial and nonstandard) rode)

rides (present singular third-person)
riding (participle present)
rode (past)
rade (obsolete past)
rid (obsolete past)
ridden (participle past)
rode (colloquial nonstandard participle past)

From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreydʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-.
Cognates:
From Proto-Germanic: North Frisian ride (“to ride”), Saterland Frisian riede (“to ride”), West Frisian ride (“to ride”), Low German rieden (“to ride”), Dutch rijden (“to ride”), German reiten (“to ride”), Danish ride (“to ride”), Swedish rida (“to ride”).
From Indo-European: Welsh rhwyddhau (“to hurry”).

set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the Devil

The quintet in Propheticape muses out-of-measured-time until Holland leads it into swift, riding jazz.

2000, Max Harrison, Charles Fox, Eric Thacker, The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to postmodernism, page 238:

(music) In jazz, to play in a steady rhythmical style.


乙

(music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note ti (7).

(music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note low ti (7̣).


乙

Originally from Middle Chinese 乙 (MC 'it), arising from the proper noun sense. Appears in texts from at least 833 CE.

(music) one tone lower than the note indicated by 甲 (kō, “something A”)


violin

→ Japanese: バイオリン (baiorin)

→ Korean: 바이올린 (baiollin)

From Italian violino (“little viola”), from viola + -ino (forming diminutives).

When I play it like this, it's a fiddle; when I play it like this, it's a violin.

She was looking more like Sherlock Holmes than ever. Slap a dressing-gown on her and give her a violin, and she could have walked straight into Baker Street and no questions asked.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(music) A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.

The first violin often plays the lead melody lines in a string quartet.

(music, metonymically) The position of a violinist in an orchestra or group.


violin

violin (indefinite nominative singular)
violinen (definite nominative singular)
violiner (indefinite nominative plural)
violinerna (definite nominative plural)
violins (genitive indefinite singular)
violinens (definite genitive singular)
violiners (genitive indefinite plural)
violinernas (definite genitive plural)


guitar

→ Amharic: ጊታር (gitar)

→ Bengali: গিটার (giṭar)

→ Cantonese: 結他／结他 (git3 taa1)

→ Gujarati: ગિટાર (giṭār)

→ Hindi: गिटार (giṭār)

→ Irish: giotár

→ Japanese: ギター (gitā)

→ Hakka: 吉他 (kí-tá)

→ Hokkien: 吉他 (gì-tà, gih-tah)

→ Korean: 기타 (gita)

→ Mandarin: 吉他 (jítā)

→ Scottish Gaelic: giotàr

→ Sidamo: giitare

→ Thai: กีตาร์ (gii-dtâa)

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek κῐθᾰ́ρᾱ (kithárā)bor.
Aramaic קיתראbor.
Arabic قِيثَارَة (qīṯāra)bor.
Old Spanish guitarra
Spanish guitarrabor.
English guitar
From Spanish guitarra, from Arabic قِيثَارَة (qīṯāra), from Ancient Greek κῐθᾰ́ρᾱ (kithárā). Doublet of cithara, cither, and zither.

der

Arabic قِيثَارَة (qīṯāra)

Learning to strum the guitar rhythmically is essential.

She was carrying her guitar in a fancily-decorated case.

The band is looking for a new guitar player.

(music) A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).

(music) Any type of musical instrument of the lute family, characterized by a flat back, along with a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.


一

(music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note low ti (7̣).


augment

en-verb

augment (third-person singular simple present augments, present participle augmenting, simple past and past participle augmented)

augments (present singular third-person)
augmenting (participle present)
augmented (participle past)
augmented (past)

From Middle English augmenten, from Middle French augmenter, from Old French augmenter, from Late Latin augmentare (“to increase”), from Latin augmentum (“an increase, growth”), from augere (“to increase”).

(music) To slow the tempo or meter, e.g. for a dramatic or stately passage.

(music) To increase an interval, especially the largest interval in a triad, by a half step (chromatic semitone).


stab

First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe.
Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.

der

a horn stab

(music) A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.


bridge

From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ (“bridge”), from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ (“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw- (“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).
Cognate with Scots brig, brigg, breeg (“bridge”), Saterland Frisian Brääch (“bridge”), West Frisian brêge (“bridge”), Dutch brug (“bridge”), German Brücke (“bridge”), Danish brygge (“wharf”), Icelandic brygga (“pier”), Gaulish briua (“bridge”).
The verb is from Middle English briggen, from Old English brycġian (“to bridge, make a causeway, pave”), derived from the noun. Cognate with Dutch bruggen (“to bridge”), Middle Low German bruggen (“to bridge”), Old High German bruccōn (“to bridge”) (whence Modern German brücken).
The musical connection sense is a semantic loan from German Steg, from Old High German steg.

ацҳа

construction or natural feature that spans a divide

if someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it

(music, lutherie) The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board.

မြင်းမိုရ်

(music, lutherie) piece on string instruments

The lyrics in the song's bridge inverted its meaning.

In the bridge of his 2011 song "It Will Rain", Bruno Mars begs his lover not to "say goodbye."

(music) A contrasting section within a song that prepares for the return of the original material section.


bridge

en-verb

bridge (third-person singular simple present bridges, present participle bridging, simple past and past participle bridged)

bridges (present singular third-person)
bridging (participle present)
bridged (participle past)
bridged (past)

We need to bridge that jam into "The Eleven".

(music) To transition from one piece or section of music to another without stopping.

fondre

music: to transition from one piece or section to another


piano

en-noun

piano (plural pianos or (archaic) pianoes)

pianos (plural)
pianoes (archaic plural)

Clipping of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte, from piano (“soft”) + forte (“strong”). So named because it could produce a wide range of varied volumes note-by-note, in contrast to older keyboard instruments, notably the harpsichord. Doublet of llano, plain, and plane.

The piano in his house takes up a lot of space.

She has been taking lessons for many years and now plays piano very well.

(music) a percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers to strike strings


piano

(music) softly, as a musical direction (abbreviated to p. in sheet music)


piano

en-adj

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

more piano (comparative)
most piano (superlative)


piano

sq-noun

piano f (plural piano, definite pianoja, definite plural pianot)

piano (plural)
pianoja (definite)
pianot (definite plural)