pizzicato
[ pit-si-kah-toh; Italian peet-tsee-kah-taw ]
adjective
played by plucking the strings with the finger instead of using the bow, as on a violin.
noun,plural piz·zi·ca·ti [pit-si-kah-tee; Italian peet-tsee-kah-tee]. /ˌpɪt sɪˈkɑ ti; Italian ˌpit tsiˈkɑ ti/.
a note or passage so played.
Origin of pizzicato
11835–45; <Italian, past participle of pizzicare to pluck, pick, twang (a stringed instrument)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pizzicato in a sentence
Not that they are hard in a modern way: Bach knew nothing of harmonics, pizzicati, scales in octaves and tenths.
Violin Mastery | Frederick H. Martens
British Dictionary definitions for pizzicato
pizzicato
/ (ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtəʊ) music /
adjective, adverb
(in music for the violin family) to be plucked with the finger
noun
the style or technique of playing a normally bowed stringed instrument in this manner
Origin of pizzicato
1C19: from Italian: pinched, from pizzicare to twist, twang
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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