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virtuoso - 4 dictionary results

vir⋅tu⋅o⋅so

  [vur-choo-oh-soh] noun, plural -sos, -si  [-see] , adjective
Use virtuoso in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who has special knowledge or skill in a field.
2. a person who excels in musical technique or execution.
3. a person who has a cultivated appreciation of artistic excellence, as a connoisseur or collector of objects of art, antiques, etc.
4. Obsolete. a person who has special interest or knowledge in the arts and sciences; scientist; scholar.
–adjective
5. Also, vir⋅tu⋅os⋅ic  [vur-choo-os-ik] . of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a virtuoso: a virtuoso performance.
Origin:
1610–20; < It: versed, skilled < LL virtuosus virtuous
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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vir·tu·o·so   (vûr'chōō-ō'sō, -zō)   
n.   pl. vir·tu·o·sos or vir·tu·o·si (-sē)
  1. A musician with masterly ability, technique, or personal style.
  2. A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.
  3. A person with a strong interest in the fine arts, especially in antiquities.
  4. Archaic A very learned person.
adj.  Exhibiting the ability, technique, or personal style of a virtuoso: a virtuoso performance.

[Italian, skilled, of great worth, virtuoso, from Late Latin virtuōsus, virtuous, from Latin virtūs, excellence; see virtue.]
vir'tu·o'sic (-ō'sĭk, -zĭk) adj., vir'tu·o'si·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Virtuoso

Vir`tu*o"so\, n.; pl. Virtuosos; It. Virtuosi. [It. See Virtuous.]

1. One devoted to virtu; one skilled in the fine arts, in antiquities, and the like; a collector or ardent admirer of curiosities, etc.

Virtuoso the Italians call a man who loves the noble arts, and is a critic in them. --Dryden.

2. (Mus.) A performer on some instrument, as the violin or the piano, who excels in the technical part of his art; a brilliant concert player.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : virtuoso
Spanish: virtuoso,
German: der Virtuose, *die Virtuosin, virtuos,
Japanese: 巨匠
More Translations »

virtuoso 
1620, "scholar, connoisseur," from It. virtuoso (pl. virtuosi), noun use of adj. meaning "skilled, learned, of exceptional worth," from L.L. virtuosus (see virtuous). Meaning "person with great skill" (as in music) is first attested 1743.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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