cadenza

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia. Doublet of cadence and chance.

Noun

cadenza (plural cadenzas or cadenze)

  1. (music) A part of a piece of music, such as a concerto, that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.
    • 1993, John Banville, Ghosts
      Yes, laugh, as I want to laugh for instance in the concert hall when the orchestra trundles to a stop and the virtuoso at his piano, hunched like a demented vet before the bared teeth of this enormous black beast of sound, lifts up deliquescent hands and prepares to plunge into the cadenza.

Translations


Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadēns, present participle of cadō (to fall).

Noun

cadenza f (plural cadenze)

  1. cadence
  2. rhythm

Verb

cadenza

  1. third-person singular present indicative of cadenzare
  2. second-person singular imperative of cadenzare
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