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colorature

 [kuhl-er-uh-toor-uh, -tyoor-uh, kol-, kohl-]   Origin

col·o·ra·tu·ra

   [kuhl-er-uh-toor-uh, -tyoor-uh, kol-, kohl-]
noun
1.
runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music.
2.
a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in such music.
Also, col·or·a·ture  [kuhl-er-uh-choor] .

Origin:
1730–40; < Italian < Late Latin: literally, coloring. See color, -ate1, -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Colorature is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
coloratura or colorature (ˌkɒlərəˈtʊərə, ˈkɒlərəˌtjʊə)
 
—n
1.  a.  (in 18th- and 19th-century arias) a florid virtuoso passage
 b.  (as modifier): a coloratura aria
2.  Also called: coloratura soprano a lyric soprano who specializes in such music
 
[C19: from obsolete Italian, literally: colouring, from Latin colōrāre to colour]
 
colorature or colorature
 
—n
 
[C19: from obsolete Italian, literally: colouring, from Latin colōrāre to colour]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

coloratura
"Ornamental passages, roulades, embellishments, etc., in vocal music" [Elson], 1740, from It. coloratura, lit. "coloring," from L.L. coloratura, from colorare "to color," from color (see color).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
coloratura [(kul-uhr-uh-toor-uh)]

Elaborate ornamentation in a piece of vocal music. A coloratura soprano is one who can sing such highly ornamented parts.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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