sonata (səˈnɑːtə) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | sonata form symphony See also concerto an instrumental composition, usually in three or more movements, for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata, etc) |
| 2. | a one-movement keyboard composition of the baroque period |
| [C17: from Italian, from sonare to sound, from Latin] | |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
A musical composition for one or two instruments, usually in three or four movements. The sonata of the classic era in music had a definite arrangement for its movements: the first and fourth had a fast tempo, the second had a slow tempo, and the third was in either playful style (a “scherzo”) or in dance form (a “minuet”).