staccato
/stəˈkɑːtoʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.58 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.
noun
Any sound resembling a musical staccato.
adj
Describing a passage having this mark.
adj
Made up of abruptly disconnected parts or sounds.
Example Sentences
- "According to the syllable-timed hypothesis, Spanish syllables as staccato."
- "The tumultuous noise resolved itself now into the disorderly mingling of many voices, the gride of many wheels, the creaking of waggons, and the staccato of hoofs."
- "Now, play the same passage very staccato."
- "The same nervous staccato laugh broke from her thin lips, and her fingers began to play with a long tortoise-shell paper-knife."
- "A kind of tense peace, like the centre of a cyclone, descended. Not for long, of course, for already stealing upon one's hearing would be the staccato bark and thrust of the banker bringing up the rear."
- "The water-level route, the whistle and the loud staccato exhaust of this great engine recalled most vividly memories of the New York Central Hudsons highballing along the Hudson River between Harmon and Albany!"
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian staccato (“detached, disconnected”), past participle of staccare (“to detach, separate”), aphetic variant of distaccare (“to separate, detach”), from Middle French destacher (“to detach”), from Old French destachier (“to detach”), from des- + atachier (“to attach”), alteration of estachier (“to fasten with or to a stake, lay claim to”), from estache (“a stake”), from Low Frankish *stakkā (“stake”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz, *stakô (“stick, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“stick, stake”). Akin to Old High German stecko (“post”) (German Stecken (“stick”)), Old Saxon stekko (“stake”), Old Norse stakkr (“hay stack, heap”), Old English staca (“stake”). More at stake.