glissando

[ gli-sahn-doh ]

/ glɪˈsɑn doʊ /

Music.

performed with a gliding effect by sliding one or more fingers rapidly over the keys of a piano or strings of a harp.

a glissando passage.

(in string playing) a slide.

Origin of glissando

1870–75; < French gliss(er) to slide + Italian -ando gerund ending

The sudden diminuation of tone taken with a glissando gives an effect something like a short groan.

The Tinguian |Fay-Cooper Cole
Sign,—same as a muted note, but written at the end of a glissando.

The Tinguian |Fay-Cooper Cole
Various effects can be obtained on the harp: by harmonics, by damping, by guitar tones, by the glissando.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1 |Various
The glissando passages in sixths are impossible on modern instruments.

Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work |Stephen Samuel Stratton

A glissando of joy burned his eardrums, and he could not face that living splendor.

Felony |James Causey

glissando

/ (ɡlɪˈsændəʊ) /

a rapidly executed series of notes on the harp or piano, each note of which is discretely audible

a portamento, esp as executed on the violin, viola, etc

C19: probably Italianized variant of glissade