cavatina

[ kav-uh-tee-nuh; Italian kah-vah-tee-nah ]

/ ˌkæv əˈti nə; Italian ˌkɑ vɑˈti nɑ /

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noun, plural cav·a·ti·ne

[kav-uh-tee-ney; Italian kah-vah-tee-ne]. /ˌkæv əˈti neɪ; Italian ˌkɑ vɑˈti nɛ/. Music.

a simple song or melody, properly one without a second part or a repeat; an air.

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Origin of cavatina

1830–40; <Italian, equivalent to cavat(a) song (literally, something drawn out, noun use of feminine of cavata<Latin cavātus hollowed out, hollow; see cave, -ate¹) + -ina-ine¹

Words nearby cavatina

cavalryman, cavalry twill, Cavan, cavate, cavatelli, cavatina, cave, cave art, caveat, caveat emptor, caveator

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cavatina in a sentence

Schuppanzighs high opinion of the Cavatina was shared by many and also by Beethoven himself.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer
A drama was to be produced in which a very difficult cavatina was introduced.
Great Singers, Second Series|George T. Ferris
Palestrina's music resembles the music of Rossini, as the song of the sparrow is like the cavatina of the nightingale.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
A more beautiful rendering of the lovely cavatina "Casta Diva" could not have been heard, Mdme.
The Mapleson Memoirs, vol I|James H. Mapleson

The chord which closed his cavatina had sealed his fame in opera; but his fame was to him as ashes in his mouth.
The Dominant Strain|Anna Chapin Ray

British Dictionary definitions for cavatina

cavatina

/ (ˌkævəˈtiːnə) /

noun plural -ne (-nɪ)

a solo song resembling a simple aria

an instrumental composition reminiscent of this

Word Origin for cavatina

C19: from Italian

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