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acciaccatura

[ uh-chah-kuh-toor-uh; Italian aht-chahk-kah-too-rah ]
/ əˌtʃɑ kəˈtʊər ə; Italian ɑtˌtʃɑk kɑˈtu rɑ /
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noun, plural ac·ciac·ca·tu·ras, ac·ciac·ca·tu·re [-toor-ey, -toor-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.
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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, access point, access road, access time, accessway, acciaccatura, accidence, accident, accidental, accidental death benefit, accidentalism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use acciaccatura in a sentence

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

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
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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