Staccato - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

stac·ca·to

Audio Help [stuh-kah-toh] Pronunciation Key adjective, adverb, noun, plural -tos, -ti

Audio Help [-tee] Pronunciation Key.

–adjective

1.	shortened and detached when played or sung: staccato notes.

2.	characterized by performance in which the notes are abruptly disconnected: a staccato style of playing. Compare legato.

3.	composed of or characterized by abruptly disconnected elements; disjointed: rapid-fire, staccato speech.

–adverb

4.	in a staccato manner.

–noun

5.	performance in a staccato manner.

6.	a staccato passage.

[Origin: 1715–25; < It: disconnected, ptp. of staccare (deriv. of stacca pole < Goth, but taken as a var. of distaccare to detach)

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Staccato

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

stac·ca·to Audio Help (stə-kä'tō) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Music Cut short crisply; detached: staccato octaves.
Marked by or composed of abrupt, disconnected parts or sounds: staccato applause.

n. pl. stac·ca·tos or stac·ca·ti (-tē)
A staccato manner or sound.

[Italian, past participle of staccare, to detach, short for distaccare, from obsolete French destacher, from Old French destachier; see detach.]

stac·ca'to adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
staccato

1724, from It. staccato, lit. "detached, disconnected," from pp. of staccare "to detach," shortened form of distaccare "separate, detach," from M.Fr. destacher, from O.Fr. destachier "to detach" (see detach).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

staccato
adjective
1.	(music) marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds; cut short crisply; "staccato applause"; "a staccato command"; "staccato notes" [ant: legato]
adverb
1.	separating the notes; in music; "play this staccato, please" [ant: legato]

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
staccato [(stuh-kah-toh)]

A direction in music meaning that the notes should be performed in an abrupt, sharp, clear-cut manner.

Note: The term staccato has been applied generally to things that occur in rapid bursts, such as gunfire.

[Chapter:] Fine Arts

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Staccato

De*tach"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detached; p. pr. & vb. n. Detaching.] [F. d['e]tacher (cf. It. distaccare, staccare); pref. d['e] (L. dis) + the root found also in E. attach. See Attach, and cf. Staccato.]

1. To part; to separate or disunite; to disengage; -- the opposite of attach; as, to detach the coats of a bulbous root from each other; to detach a man from a leader or from a party.

2. To separate for a special object or use; -- used especially in military language; as, to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment.

Syn: To separate; disunite; disengage; sever; disjoin; withdraw; draw off. See Detail.

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