acciaccatura

en-noun

acciaccatura (plural acciaccaturas or acciaccature)

acciaccaturas (plural)
acciaccature (plural)

/əˌt͡ʃɑkəˈtʊɹə/

/əˌt͡ʃækəˈtjʊəɹə/

Borrowed from Italian acciaccatura, from the verb acciaccare (“to crush”).

(music) A short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.

acciaccatura

short grace note occurring on the beat occupied by the main note


accolade

First attested in the 1620s, borrowed from French accolade, from Occitan acolada (“an embrace”), from acolar (“to embrace”), from Italian accollato, from Vulgar Latin *accollō (“to hug around the neck”), from Latin ad- + collum (“neck”) (English collar).

der

(music) A brace used to join two or more staves.

аколада

(music) a brace used to join two or more staves


abbreviation

en-noun

abbreviation (countable and uncountable, plural abbreviations)

abbreviation (canonical)
of (canonical)
abbreviations (plural)

First attested 1400–50. From Middle English abbreviacioun, from Middle French abreviation, from Ecclesiastical Latin abbreviātiō, from Latin ad + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”). By surface analysis, abbreviate + -ion.

(music) A notation used in music score to denote a direction, as pp or mf.

abbreviatur

music: a notation used in music score to denote a direction

(music) One or more dashes through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers, or hemidemisemiquavers.

lyhennysmerkki

music: one or more dashes through the stem of a note


woodwind

(music) Any (typically wooden) musical instrument that produces sound by the player blowing into it, through a reed, or across an opening. Woodwind instruments include the recorder, flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, cor anglais and bassoon.


accidental

en-adj

accidental (comparative more accidental, superlative most accidental)

more accidental (comparative)
most accidental (superlative)

From Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident + -al.

(music) Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature.


accidental

(music) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.


leap

From Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaupan, from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną. Doublet of lope, lowp, elope, gallop, galop, interlope, and loop.
Cognate with West Frisian ljeppe (“to jump”), Dutch lopen (“to run; to walk”), German laufen (“to run; to walk”), Danish løbe, Norwegian Bokmål løpe, from Proto-Indo-European *klewb- (“to spring, stumble”) (compare Lithuanian šlùbti ‘to become lame’, klùbti ‘to stumble’).

der

(music) A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other intermediate intervals.


metric

From French métrique (1864), from New Latin metricus (“pertaining to the system based on the meter”), from metrum (“a meter”); see meter.

(music) Of or relating to the meter of a piece of music.


aria

From Italian aria, metathesis from Latin āerem, accusative of āēr, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”). Doublet of air.

(music) A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata.


andante

The music’s marking is andante, a delicate footfall.

2016, Ian McEwan, Nutshell, Vintage, page 198

(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played in a moderately slow tempo; faster than adagio but slower than moderato.

andante

passage played in a moderately slow tempo


andante

(music) Played at a moderately slow tempo.


andante

(music) Describing a passage having this mark.


fa

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

inh

(music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the fourth diatonic (or sixth chromatic) note of a major scale.


crow

en-verb

crow (third-person singular simple present crows, present participle crowing, simple past crowed or (UK) crew, past participle crowed or (archaic) crown)

crows (present singular third-person)
crowing (participle present)
crowed (past)
crew (UK past)
crowed (participle past)
crown (archaic participle past)

The verb is from Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan (past tense crēow, past participle crāwen), from Proto-West Germanic *krāan, from Proto-Germanic *krēaną, from imitative Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).
The noun is from Middle English crowe, from the verb.
Compare Dutch kraaien, German krähen, Lithuanian gróti, Russian гра́ять (grájatʹ)). Related to croak.

onomatopoeic

imitative

der

(intransitive, music) To test the reed of a double reed instrument by placing the reed alone in the mouth and blowing it.


f

Abbreviations.
f
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of for.
# (stenoscript) prefix for-.
# (stenoscript) suffix/sequence for(e).

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">for-</i>.

(music) The name of the fourth tone of the model scale, or scale of C. F sharp (F♯) is a tone intermediate between F and G.


digital

en-noun

digital (countable and uncountable, plural digitals)

/ˈdɪd͡ʒɪtl̩/

Borrowed from Latin digitālis, from digitus (“finger, toe”) + -alis (“-al”). Doublet of digitalis.

Beginning with the keyboard, direct attention to the grouping of the black digitals, and show that though at the outer edge of the keyboard the white digitals look as if they were all equally close neighbours, yet, […]

c.1920?, Annie Jessy Gregg Curwen, The Teacher's Guide to Mrs. Curwen's Pianoforte Method (The Child Pianist)

(music) Any of the keys of a piano or similar instrument.


accompaniment

accompaniment (countable and uncountable, plural accompaniments)

From French accompagnement; equivalent to accompany + -ment. First attested in 1744.

Brooks performed a saxophone solo on stage, with Robert as accompaniment on the bass.

(music) A part, usually performed by instruments, that gives support or adds to the background in music, or adds for ornamentation; also, the harmony of a figured bass.

مُصَاحَبَة

music: that which gives support or adds to the background


feature

→ German: Feature

→ Ukrainian: фі́ча (fíča)

From Middle English feture, from Anglo-Norman feture, from Old French faiture, from Latin factūra, from Latin factus, from Latin faciō (“do, make”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”). Doublet of facture.

feature

long, prominent article or item in the media

(music) The act of being featured in a piece of music.


comma

en-noun

comma (plural commas or (rare) commata or (obsolete) commaes)

commas (plural)
commata (plural rare)
commaes (obsolete plural)

From Latin comma, from Ancient Greek κόμμα (kómma), from κόπτω (kóptō, “I cut”).

(music) A difference in the calculation of nearly identical intervals by different ways.


and

From Middle English and, an, from Old English and, ond, end, from Proto-West Germanic *andi, from Proto-Germanic *andi, *anþi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“facing opposite, near, in front of, before”). Cognate with Scots an (“and”), North Frisian en (“and”), West Frisian en, in (“and”), Low German un (“and”), Dutch en (“and”), German und (“and”), Danish end (“but”), Swedish än (“yet, but”), Icelandic and Norwegian enn (“still, yet”), Albanian edhe (“and”) (dialectal ênde, ênne), ende (“still, yet, therefore”), Latin ante (“opposite, in front of”), and Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “opposite, facing”). Doublet of an ("if").

cog

(unstressed form, also for some speakers stressed form) end

The same goes for measure 42, when you begin the phrase on the and of 1, because that kind of lick can easily bog down the time.

2006, Gordon Goodwin, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: Trumpet, page 51

(music, often informal) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat.


industrial

en-adj

industrial (comparative more industrial, superlative most industrial)

more industrial (comparative)
most industrial (superlative)

a track with clashing industrial beats

(music) Belonging or pertaining to the genre of industrial music.


point

→ Cantonese: point

→ Indonesian: poin

→ Japanese: ポイント (pointo)

→ Korean: 포인트 (pointeu)

From Middle English poynt, from Old French point m (“dot; minute amount”), from Latin pūnctum (“a hole punched in; a point, puncture”), substantive use of pūnctus m, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick, punch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”)); alternatively, from Old French pointe f (“sharp tip”), from Latin pūncta f (past participle). Displaced native Middle English ord (“point”), from Old English ord (“point”). Doublet of pointe, punctum, punt, and punto.

kärki

position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force

decimal point

not used when reading decimal fractions aloud

(music) A dot or mark used to designate certain tones or time. In ancient music, it distinguished or characterized certain tones or styles (points of perfection, of augmentation, etc.). In modern music, it is placed on the right of a note to raise its value, or prolong its time, by one half.


accompany

en-verb

accompany (third-person singular simple present accompanies, present participle accompanying, simple past and past participle accompanied)

accompanies (present singular third-person)
accompanying (participle present)
accompanied (participle past)
accompanied (past)

* First attested in early 15th century.
From Middle English accompanien, from Old French acompagner (“to associate with”), from compaing (“companion”), nominative singular of compaignon (“companion”). See company.

der

en:to perform an accompanying part next to another instrument

(intransitive, music) To perform an accompanying part or parts in a composition.

صَاحَبَ

to perform an accompanying part or parts in a composition

The strings were accompanied by two woodwinds.

I will accompany her on the oboe.

(transitive, music) To perform an accompanying part next to (another instrument or musician).


false

en-adj

false (comparative falser, superlative falsest)

falser (comparative)
falsest (superlative)

From Middle English false, fals, from Old English fals (“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French fals, faus. Compare Scots fals, false, Saterland Frisian falsk, German falsch, Dutch vals, Swedish and Danish falsk; all from Latin falsus. Displaced native Middle English les, lese, from Old English lēas (“false”); See lease, leasing. Doublet of faux.
The verb is from Middle English falsen, falsien, from Old French falser, from Latin falsō (“falsify”), itself also from falsus; compare French fausser (“to falsify, to distort”).


acid

en-adj

acid (comparative acider, superlative acidest)

acider (comparative)
acidest (superlative)

From French acide, from Latin acidus (“sour, acid”), from aceō (“I am sour”). Doublet of agita.

(music) Denoting a musical genre that is a distortion (as if hallucinogenic) of an existing genre, as in acid house, acid jazz, acid rock.


slow

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), Dutch sleeuw (“blunt, dull”), Low German slee (“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh (“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv (“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö (“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted, slow”).


te

Altered from si in the 19th century to prevent having two notes of the musical scale starting with the same letter, to become ti; the vowel was then changed to 'e' to signify a flattened note.

(music) In solfège, the lowered seventh note of a major scale (the note B-flat in the fixed-do system): ta.


ID

en-noun

ID (countable and uncountable, plural IDs)

(music) An electronic music track without an official title.


absolute

en-adj

absolute (comparative more absolute or absoluter, superlative most absolute or absolutest)

more absolute (comparative)
absoluter (comparative)
most absolute (superlative)
absolutest (superlative)

conditional

antonym(s) of “free of restrictions, limitations, qualifications or conditions”

antonym(s) of “independent of references

First attested around 1380. From Middle English absolut, from Middle French absolut, from Latin absolūtus (“unconditional; unfettered; completed”), perfect passive participle of absolvō (“loosen, set free, complete”), from ab (“away”) + solvo (“to loose”). Influenced in part by Old French absolu. Compare absolve.

независим

grammar: not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence

categorical

absolute music

(art, music, dance) Independent of (references to) other arts; expressing things (beauty, ideas, etc) only in one art.


A

* (highest rank, grade, music): From the initial position of the letter A in the English alphabet.
* (blood type): From A antigen

Orchestras traditionally tune to a concert A.

(music) A tone three fifths above C in the cycle of fifths; the sixth tone of the C major scale; the first note of the minor scale of A minor; the reference tone that occurs at exactly 440 Hz; the printed or written note A; the scale with A as its keynote.


wolf

→ Ido: volfo (also from German)

From Middle English wolf, from Old English wulf, ƿulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos. See also Saterland Frisian Wulf, West Frisian and Dutch wolf, German Wolf, Norwegian and Danish ulv; also Sanskrit वृक (vṛ́ka), Persian گرگ (gorg), Lithuanian vilkas, Russian волк (volk), Albanian ujk, Latin lupus, Greek λύκος (lýkos), Tocharian B walkwe). Doublet of lobo and lupus.

the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature

who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl

The soft violin solo was marred by persistent wolves.


secondo

(music) The second part in a concerted piece.


cowbell

en-noun

cowbell (countable and uncountable, plural cowbells)

This song would sound better with the addition of a cowbell.

It's good, but it really needs more cowbell.

(music) A musical instrument, typically found without a clapper.


open

en-adj

open (comparative more open, superlative most open)

more open (comparative)
most open (superlative)

closed-source

antonym(s) of “with a free license and no proprietary components”

From Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* Low German open, apen (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
 Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.

der

at church every time the doors swing open

(music, stringed instruments) Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.

avoin

music: without any fingers pressing the string against the fingerboard

(music) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.


accent

en-noun

accent (countable and uncountable, plural accents)

From Middle English accent, from Medieval Latin accentus and Old French accent, acent, both from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.

tongval

distinctive pronunciation associated with a region, social group, etc.

акце́нт

math: mark to distinguish magnitudes of similar kind

pilkku

geometry: mark indicating minutes and seconds of a degree

(music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.

(music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.

(music) A mark used to represent this special emphasis.

aksenttimerkki

music: mark to represent specific stress on a note

(music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.


abstract

en-adj

abstract (comparative more abstract or abstracter, superlative most abstract or abstractest)

more abstract (comparative)
abstracter (comparative)
most abstract (superlative)
abstractest (superlative)

From Middle English abstract, borrowed from Latin abstractus, perfect passive participle of abstrahō (“draw away”), formed from abs- (“away”) + trahō (“to pull, draw”). The verbal sense is first attested in 1542.

(art) Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them.


tempo

Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”). Doublet of tense.

(music) The number of beats per minute in a piece of music; also, an indicative term denoting approximate rate of speed in written music (examples: allegro, andante)


throne

From Middle English trone, from Old French trone, from Latin thronus, from Ancient Greek θρόνος (thrónos, “chair, throne”). Superseded earlier seld (“seat, throne”).

der

(music) A kind of stool used by drummers.


take

Brill Publishers
Helmut Rix
Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben

From Middle English taken (“to take, lay hold of, grasp, strike”), from Old English tacan (“to grasp, touch”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse taka (“to touch, take”), from Proto-Germanic *tēkaną (“to touch”), from pre-Germanic *deh₁g- (“to touch”), possibly a phonetically altered form of Proto-Indo-European *te-th₂g- (“to touch, take”) (see there for details).
Cognate with Scots tak, Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk taka (“to take”), Norwegian Bokmål ta (“to take”), Swedish ta (“to take”), Danish tage (“to take, seize”), Middle Dutch taken (“to grasp”), Dutch taken (“to take; grasp”), Middle Low German tacken (“to grasp”). English thack may be from the same root. Compare tackle. Unrelated to Lithuanian tèkti (“to receive, be granted”), which is instead cognate with English thig.
Gradually displaced Middle English nimen (“to take”; see nim), from Old English niman (“to take”).

noncog

(music) A recording of a musical performance made during an uninterrupted single recording period.


seventh

From Middle English seventhe, sefte, from Old English seofoþa, from Proto-West Germanic *sebundō, from Proto-Germanic *sebundô.

(music) A tone of the seventh degree from a given tone, the interval between two such tones, or the two tones sounding in unison.


fourteenth

/ˌfɔːˈtiːnθ/

/ˌfɔɹˈtiːnθ/

(music) The interval comprising an octave and a seventh.

kvartdecima

the interval comprising an octave and a seventh


fifteenth

(music) The interval comprising two octaves.


thirteenth

/ˌθɜːˈtiːnθ/

(music) The interval comprising an octave and a sixth.

tredesiimi

the interval comprising an octave and a sixth


eleventh

From Middle English elleventhe, from elleven + -the, equivalent to eleven + -th. This re-formation replaced inherited forms such as endleft, ellefthe, from Old English endlefta, from Proto-Germanic *ainaliftô.

(music) The note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord.

undecima

the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord


twelfth

From Middle English twelfthe, twelfte, from Old English twelfta (“twelfth”), from Proto-Germanic *twaliftô (“twelfth”), equivalent to twelve + -th. Cognate with Scots twalt (“twelfth”), Saterland Frisian tweelfte (“twelfth”), West Frisian tolfde (“twelfth”), Dutch twaalfde (“twelfth”), German Low German twalfde, twalvde (“twelfth”), German zwölfte (“twelfth”), Danish tolvte (“twelfth”),
Swedish tolfte (“twelfth”), Icelandic tólfta (“twelfth”).

twelfe

but the corresponding pronunciation /twɛlf/ is still widespread today

(music) An interval equal to an octave plus a fifth.


triangle

/ˈtɹaɪəŋɡəl/

/ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/

/ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English triangle, from Old French triangle, from Latin triangulum, noun use of adjective triangulus (“three-cornered, having three angles”), from trēs (“three”) + angulus (“corner, angle”), equivalent to tri- + angle.

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) A percussion instrument made by forming a metal rod into a triangular shape which is open at one angle. It is suspended from a string and hit with a metal bar to make a resonant sound.


keyboard

(music) A component of many instruments including the piano, organ, and harpsichord consisting of usually black and white keys that cause different tones to be produced when struck.

(music) A device with keys of a musical keyboard, used to control electronic sound-producing devices which may be built into or separate from the keyboard device.

klawerbord

electronic device with keys of a musical keyboard


ground

en-noun

ground (countable and uncountable, plural grounds)

From Middle English grounde, from Old English grund, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz. Cognate with West Frisian grûn, Dutch grond and German Grund.

cut the ground from under someone's feet

know one's ass from a hole in the ground

know one's head from a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

(music) A composition in which the bass, consisting of a few bars of independent notes, is continually repeated to a varying melody.

(music) The tune on which descants are raised; the plain song.


compass

From Middle English compas (“a circle, circuit, limit, form, a mathematical instrument”), from Old French compas, from Medieval Latin compassus (“a circle, a circuit”), from Latin com- (“together”) + passus (“a pace, step, later a pass, way, route”); see pass, pace.

der

(music) The range of notes of a musical instrument or voice.


adjunct

/ˈæd͡ʒ.ʌŋkt/

From Latin adiunctus, perfect passive participle of adiungō (“join to”), from ad + iungō (“join”). Doublet of adjoint.

(music) A key or scale closely related to another as principal; a relative or attendant key.


fourth

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

Inherited from Middle English fourthe, an alteration (due to four) of ferthe, from Old English fēorþa, fēowerþa, from Proto-West Germanic *feurþō, from Proto-Germanic *fedurþô, equivalent to four + -th.
cognates
Compare West Frisian fjirde, Saterland Frisian fjädde, fjoode, Dutch vierde, German Low German feerde, feerd, German vierte, Danish fjerde, Icelandic fjórði.

Now I've heard there was a secret chord / That David played, and it pleased the Lord / But you don't really care for music, do ya? / It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

1984, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Hallelujah”, in Various Positions

(music) A musical interval which spans four degrees of the diatonic scale, for example C to F (C D E F).

kwart

musical interval spanning four degrees of the diatonic scale


bank

table
Probably from French banc. Of Germanic origin, and akin to English bench.

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight

(music) A bench, or row of keys belonging to a keyboard, as in an organ.


pit

From Middle English pit, pet, püt, from Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, from Latin puteus (“trench, pit, well”), although there are phonetic difficulties.

he who digs a pit for others falls in himself

(music) The section of a marching band containing mallet percussion instruments and other large percussion instruments too large to be marched, such as the tam-tam; the front ensemble. Can also refer to the area on the sidelines where these instruments are placed.


tenth

From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).

affix

(music) The interval between any tone and the tone represented on the tenth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and three of the octave above; the octave of the third.

decima

the interval between any tone and the tone represented on the tenth degree of the staff above it


second

From Middle English secunde, second, secound, secund, borrowed from Old French second, seond, from Latin secundus (“following, next in order”), from root of sequor (“I follow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). Doublet of secundo. Displaced native twoth and partially displaced native other (from Old English ōþer (“other; next; second”)).

noncog

(music) The interval between two adjacent notes in a diatonic scale (either or both of them may be raised or lowered from the basic scale via any type of accidental).

sekunde

music: interval between two adjacent notes


second

en-verb

second (third-person singular simple present seconds, present participle seconding, simple past and past participle seconded)

seconds (present singular third-person)
seconding (participle present)
seconded (participle past)
seconded (past)

From Middle French seconder, from Latin secundō (“assist, make favorable”).

der

(transitive, music) To accompany by singing as the second performer.


xylophone

From xylo- (“of wood”) + -phone (“sound”).

All I know how to play on my xylophone is "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Would you like to hear it?

percussion idiophone
percussion idiophone

(music) Any musical instrument (percussion idiophone) made of wooden slats graduated so as to make the sounds of the scale when struck with a small drumstick-like mallet; the standard Western concert xylophone or one of its derivatives.


head

en-noun

head (countable and uncountable, plural heads or head)

base

antonym(s) of “topmost part of anything”

→ Japanese: ヘッド (heddo)

Sranan Tongo: ede

Aukan: ede

Saramaccan: hédi

From Middle English hed, heed, heved, heaved, from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head; top; source, origin; chief, leader; capital”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput-. The modern word comes from Old English oblique stem hēafd-, the expected Modern English outcome for hēafod would be *heaved (similar to the Middle English word). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, chef, chief, and Howth.
cognates
Cognate with Scots heid, hede, hevid, heved (“head”), Old English hafola (“head”), North Frisian hood (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt (“head”), Swedish huvud (“head”), Danish hoved (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Latin caput (“head”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”), Hindi कपाल (kapāl, “skull”).

頭

つぶり, tsuburi, つぃぶる, tsiburu, つぃぶるぃ, tsiburi

putouskorkeus

fluid dynamics: difference in elevation in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure

have one's head screwed on the right way

run around like a chicken with its head cut off

would lose one's head if it wasn't attached

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

you can't put a wise head on young shoulders

Tap the head of the drum for this roll.

(countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.

(countable) The principal operative part of a machine or tool.

(music) A drum head, the membrane which is hit to produce sound.

The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
The headstock of a guitar.

Only true heads know this.

(social, countable, metonymically) A leader or expert.

(music, slang, figurative, metonymically) A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop.


third

en-noun

third (countable and uncountable, plural thirds)

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English thirde, thridde, from Old English þridda, from Proto-Germanic *þridjô, from Pre-Germanic *tretyós, a remodeling of Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós.

They sing in thirds.

(music) An interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale.


ninth

From Middle English nynthe, nynte, from Old English niġoþa, from Proto-Germanic *newundô; the -n- was reinserted by analogy with nine.

(music) The compound interval between any tone and the tone represented on the ninth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and two of the octave above; the octave of the second, consisting of 13 or 14 semitones (called minor and major ninth).


copula

Borrowed from Latin copula (“connection, linking of words”), from co- (“together”) + apere (“fasten”). Doublet of couple.

bor

(music) A device that connects two or more keyboards of an organ.


octuplet

(music) A group of eight notes played in the time of six.


quaver

From Middle English quaveren, frequentative form of quaven, cwavien (“to tremble”), equivalent to quave + -er. Cognate with Low German quabbeln (“to quiver”), German quabbeln, quappeln (“to quiver”). More at quave, quab, quiver.

(music) an eighth note, drawn as a crotchet (quarter note) with a tail.

โน้ตตัวเขบ็ดหนึ่งชั้น (nóot-dtuua-kà-bèt-nʉ̀ng-chán, literally “one layer quaver body note”)


sextuplet

(music) A group of six notes played in the time of four.

(music, proscribed) A group of six notes played in the time of four, with accents on the first, third and fifth notes.

(music, proscribed) A group of six notes played in the time of four, with accents on the first and fourth notes; a double triplet.

(music, proscribed) A group of six notes played in the time of four, with an accent only on the first note.


quadruplet

A set of four, particularly
(music) A tuplet of four notes.

A set of four, particularly
A tuplet of four notes.


fifth

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fifthe, fifte, fift, from Old English fīfta (“fifth”), from Proto-Germanic *fimftô (“fifth”) or *femftô, equivalent to five + -th. Cognate with Scots fift, fyft (“fifth”), North Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), West Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), Dutch vijfde (“fifth”), Low German fifte, föfte, füfte (“fifth”), German fünfte (“fifth”), Danish femte (“fifth”), Swedish femte (“fifth”), Icelandic fimmta (“fifth”).

(music) The musical interval between one note and another five scale degrees higher (the fifth note in a scale)


fifth

en-verb

fifth (third-person singular simple present fifths, present participle fifthing, simple past and past participle fifthed)

fifths (present singular third-person)
fifthing (participle present)
fifthed (participle past)
fifthed (past)

Another extension of strict organum is 'fifthing'. Fifthing is a note-against- note method of creating a two-part texture by improvising a second voice over the given tune, starting and ending each musical phrase at the octave and proceeding mainly in fifths above the tune at others times.

1996, Music in Early English Religious Drama: Minstrels playing, page 510

Each of these three groups contributes some special insight into the nature of fifthing and the context in which it was practiced.

1978, Discant and the Theory of Fifthing

(music) To sing in the fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.


sixth

six (frequent reduced form before a consonant)

From earlier sixt, from Middle English sixte, from Old English siexta, from Proto-Germanic *sehstô.

(music) The interval between one note and another, five notes higher in the scale, for example C to A, a major sixth, or C to A flat, a minor sixth. (Note that the interval covers six notes counting inclusively, for example C-D-E-F-G-A.)


time

en-noun

time (countable and uncountable, plural times)

Sranan Tongo: ten

From Middle English tyme, time, from Old English tīma (“time, period, space of time, season, lifetime, fixed time, favorable time, opportunity”), from Proto-West Germanic *tīmō, from Proto-Germanic *tīmô (“time”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂imō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- (“to divide”). Related to tide. Not related to Latin tempus.
cognates
*Scots tym, tyme (“time”)
*Alemannic German Zimen, Zīmmän (“time, time of the year, opportune time, opportunity”)
*Danish time (“hour, lesson”)
*Swedish timme (“hour”)
*Norwegian time (“lesson, hour”)
*Faroese tími (“hour, lesson, time”)
*Icelandic tími (“time, season”).

عَصْر

extended period of time, defined or undefined: age, era, etc.

desperate times call for desperate measures

desperate times require desperate measures

serial time-encoded amplified microscopy

there is a place and time for everything

there is a time and place for everything

there's a time and a place for everything

time spent laughing is time spent with the gods

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 106. Time

The musician keeps good time.

(music, uncountable) The measured duration of sounds.

(uncountable) Tempo; a measured rate of movement.

The measured duration of sounds.
Tempo; a measured rate of movement.

common or triple time; time signature

(uncountable) Rhythmical division, meter.

The measured duration of sounds.
Rhythmical division, meter.

কাল

major division of the year: month, season, etc.

After the introduction, the drummer is to play time.

(jazz) (uncountable) A straight rhythmic pattern, free from fills, breaks and other embellishments.

(dated) dance time; march time (see usage notes)


consonant

en-adj

consonant (comparative more consonant, superlative most consonant)

more consonant (comparative)
most consonant (superlative)

From Middle English consonant or consonaunt, from Old French consonant, from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding with”), from the prefix con- (“with”) + the present participle sonāns (“sounding”), from sonāre (“to sound”). The Latin is a calque of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon).

consonant tones; consonant chords

(music) Harmonizing together; accordant.


close

From Middle English closen (“to close, enclose”), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (“to close”) (from Old English clȳsan (“to close, shut”); compare beclose, foreclose, etc.), and partly derived from Middle English clos (“close, shut up, confined, secret”, adjective), from Old French clos (“close, confined”, adjective), from Latin clausus (“shut up”, past participle), from claudere (“to bar, block, close, enclose, bring an end to, confine”), from Proto-Indo-European *klāw- (“key, hook, nail”), related to Latin clāvis (“key, deadbolt, bar”), clāvus (“nail, peg”), claustrum (“bar, bolt, barrier”), claustra (“dam, wall, barricade, stronghold”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείς (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), German schließen (“to close, conclude, lock”), Dutch sluiten (“to close, conclude, lock”). Partially replaced Old English lūcan (“to close, lock, enclose”), (whence English lock). Doublet of clause.

cog

(music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.


mi

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English mi (“third degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian mi in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin mīra (“miracles; the miraculous”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

inh

(music) A syllable used in sol-fa (solfège) to represent the third note of a major scale.


bombard

From Middle English bombard, from Middle French bombarde (“a bombard, mortar, catapult"; also "a bassoon-like musical instrument”), from Latin bombus (“buzzing; booming”).
The modern pronunciation is from modern French bombarde.


stem

From Middle English stem, stemme, stempne, stevin, from Old English stemn, from Proto-West Germanic *stamni, from Proto-Germanic *stamniz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, stay”).

the apple does not fall far from the stem

(music) A vertical stroke marking the length of a note in written music.

varsi

music: vertical stroke of a symbol representing a note in written music

Stem mastering processes a mix by breaking it down into several manageable pieces—that is, stereo stems. The stem approach allows the mastering engineer the opportunity to make larger or smaller changes to separate mix elements before the final compression and limiting are applied to the complete mix.

2019, Karl Pedersen, Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard, The Recording, Mixing, and Mastering Reference Handbook, Oxford University Press, page 268

(music) A premixed portion of a track for use in audio mastering and remixing.


expression

en-noun

expression (countable and uncountable, plural expressions)

Borrowed from Middle French expression, from Late Latin expressiō, expressiōnem (“a pressing out”).
Morphologically express + -ion.

der

(music) The tone of voice or sound in music.


subject

From Latin subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”).

The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.

1878, William Smith Rockstro, “Subject”, in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians

(music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.


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 (“act of doing or making”), from āctus + action suffix -iō, perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti; see also act, active.
Morphologically act + -ion.

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


wax

wax (countable and uncountable, plural waxes)

table
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.


AC

adult contemporary
adult contemporary#English

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


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".


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.


air

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

ayr

especially when referring to the form of music

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.


MC

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


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

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.


VA

en-noun

VA (countable and uncountable, plural VAs)


vox angelica

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

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


salsa

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.


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).


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.


chair

→ Assamese: চেয়াৰ (sear)

desc

→ Bengali: চেয়ার (ceẏar), চ্যার (cêr) — obsolete

→ 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.


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

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


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.


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.


loco

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


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.


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


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.


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

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


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.


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.


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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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

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


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.


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.


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.


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.

a £1 charity shop dig

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


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.


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.


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.


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.


catch

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

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.


addition

en-noun

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.


conductor

head

conductor (plural conductors, feminine conductress or conductrix)

conductors (plural)
conductress (feminine)
conductrix (feminine)

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.


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.


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.


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).


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.


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.

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


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”).

(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.


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.


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.

(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).

(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.


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.


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


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.


slide

en-verb

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.


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.


string

en-noun

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.


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.


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.


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


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.


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 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

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


violin

→ Japanese: バイオリン (baiorin)

→ Korean: 바이올린 (baiollin)

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

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.


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.
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.


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


comb

From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), a doublet of cam. The verb is derived from the noun and displaced the older verb kemb.
Cognates
Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm); also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

cog

(music) The main body of a harmonica containing the air chambers and to which the reed plates are attached.


blade

From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”).
See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

teh

typically sharp-edged working end of a knife or other cutting tool

He wasn’t loud, but his voice had lots of blade.

(uncountable, music) The quality of singing with a pure, resonant sound; especially of a countertenor.


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)


cook

en-verb

cook (third-person singular simple present cooks, present participle cooking, simple past and past participle cooked)

cooks (present singular third-person)
cooking (participle present)
cooked (participle past)
cooked (past)
cook (infinitive)

→? Cantonese: 焗 (guk⁶)

→ Norman: coutchi

From Middle English coken, from the noun cook. In the slang sense of "proceed with some plan", coined by American rapper from California (born 1989) Lil B in 2010 and popularized in viral tweets and TikToks in mid-2022.

coinage

Audio (UK) "to cook"

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

cuck (most accents without the foot-strut split)

there's more than one way to cook an egg

On the Wagner piece, the orchestra was cooking!

The tempos were swift. The orchestra cooked, reading [conductor] Kahane's mind and swinging with him as one.

2012, “Review: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra won't stand still”, in Los Angeles Times

(intransitive, music, slang) To play music vigorously.


brass

en-noun

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”).
In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.

unc

uncertain

gloss

"to solder"; > English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">braise</i>

"a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">braspenning</i>

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

(music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; the section of an orchestra that features such instruments

духов

related to brass instruments (attributive use)


base

en-noun

base (countable and uncountable, plural bases)

acid

antonym(s) of “chemical compound that will neutralize an alkali”

From Middle English base, bas, baas, from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). Doublet of basis and bass.

أَسَاس

something from which other things extend