appoggiatura

[ uh-poj-uh-toor-uh, -tyoor-uh; Italian ahp-pawd-jah-too-rah ]

/ əˌpɒdʒ əˈtʊər ə, -ˈtyʊər ə; Italian ɑpˌpɔd dʒɑˈtu rɑ /

Save This Word!

noun Music.

a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of appoggiatura

First recorded in 1745–55; from Italian: literally, “a propping up,” equivalent to appoggiat(o), past participle of appoggiare “to support” + -ura abstract noun suffix; see ap-¹, podium, -ate¹, -ure

Words nearby appoggiatura

applied kinematics, applied linguistics, appliqué, apply, appmt., appoggiatura, appoint, appointed, appointee, appointive, appointment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use appoggiatura in a sentence

I will not leave them a place for adding the least appoggiatura.
The Life of Rossini|Henry Sutherland Edwards
In this case it is not an "appoggiatura," and should be played short.
On the Execution of Music, and Principally of Ancient Music|Camille Saint-Sans
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

The melodic appoggiatura is as frequent in the earlier German as the augmented chord of the fifth in the later Frenchman.
Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies|Philip H. Goepp

British Dictionary definitions for appoggiatura

appoggiatura

/ (əˌpɒdʒəˈtʊərə) /

noun plural -ras or -re (-rɛ)

music an ornament consisting of a nonharmonic note (short or long) preceding a harmonic one either before or on the stressSee also acciaccatura (def. 2)

Word Origin for appoggiatura

C18: from Italian, literally: a propping, from appoggiare to prop, support

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