acciaccatura

[ uh-chah-kuh-too r-uh; Italian aht-chahk-kah-too-rah ]
/ əˌtʃɑ kəˈtʊər ə; Italian ɑtˌtʃɑk kɑˈtu rɑ /

noun, plural ac·ciac·ca·tu·ras, ac·ciac·ca·tu·re [-too r-ey, -too r-ee; Italian -too-re] /-ˈtʊər eɪ, -ˈtʊər i; Italian -ˈtu rɛ/. Music.

a short grace note one half step below, and struck at the same time as, a principal note.

Origin of acciaccatura

1875–80; < Italian: literally, a pounding, crushing, equivalent to acciacc(are) to crush, bruise (based on an echoic root ciacc-) + -atura (see -ate1, -ure)

Words nearby acciaccatura

accessory shoe, accessory spleen, accessory symptom, accessory vertebral vein, accessway, acciaccatura, accidence, accident, accident boat, accident insurance, accident proneness

Example sentences from the Web for acciaccatura

  • In the second half of the first bar, the acciaccatura was never intended by the composer to be actually sung as printed.

    Style in Singing |W. E. Haslam

  • The appoggiatura is always accented, but the acciaccatura never is, the stress always falling on the melody tone.

    Music Notation and Terminology |Karl W. Gehrkens

  • The acciaccatura (or short appoggiatura) is written like the appoggiatura except that it has a light stroke across its stem.

    Music Notation and Terminology |Karl W. Gehrkens

British Dictionary definitions for acciaccatura

acciaccatura
/ (ɑːˌtʃɑːkɑːˈtʊərə) /

noun plural -ras or -re (-reɪ, -riː)

a small grace note melodically adjacent to a principal note and played simultaneously with or immediately before it
(in modern music) a very short appoggiatura

Word Origin for acciaccatura

C18: Italian: literally, a crushing sound