acciaccatura

American  

[uh-chah-kuh-toor-uh, aht-chahk-kah-too-rah] / əˌtʃɑ kəˈtʊər ə, ɑtˌtʃɑk kɑˈtu rɑ /

noun

Music.

acciaccaturas, plural acciaccature plural

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

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acciaccatura British  

/ ɑːˌtʃɑːkɑːˈtʊərə /

noun

1. a small grace note melodically adjacent to a principal note and played simultaneously with or immediately before it

2. (in modern music) a very short appoggiatura

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• acciaccaturas
  plural
• acciaccature
  plural

Etymology

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 -ate ¹, -ure)