rubato

[ roo-bah-toh; Italian roo-bah-taw ]
/ ruˈbɑ toʊ; Italian ruˈbɑ tɔ /
Music.

adjective

having certain notes arbitrarily lengthened while others are correspondingly shortened, or vice versa.

noun, plural ru·ba·tos, ru·ba·ti [roo-bah-tee; Italian roo-bah-tee] /ruˈbɑ ti; Italian ruˈbɑ ti/.

a rubato phrase or passage.
a rubato performance.

adverb

in a rubato manner.

Origin of rubato

1880–85; < Italian ( tempo) rubato stolen (time), past participle of rubare to steal < Germanic; see rob

Words nearby rubato

rub` al khali, rubaboo, rubaiyat stanza, rubarth's disease, rubasse, rubato, rubber, rubber band, rubber bridge, rubber cement, rubber check

Example sentences from the Web for rubato

British Dictionary definitions for rubato

rubato
/ (ruːˈbɑːtəʊ) music /

noun plural -tos

flexibility of tempo in performance

adjective, adverb

to be played with a flexible tempo

Word Origin for rubato

C19: from the Italian phrase tempo rubato, literally: stolen time, from rubare to rob