continuo

American  

[kuhn-tin-yoo-oh] / kənˈtɪn yuˌoʊ /

noun

Music.

continuos plural

1. a keyboard accompanying part consisting originally of a figured bass, which in modern scores is usually realized, and serving to provide or fill out the harmonic texture.

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continuo British  

/ kənˈtɪnjʊˌəʊ /

noun

1. music

   1. a shortened form of basso continuo See thorough bass

   2. ( as modifier )

      a continuo accompaniment

2. the thorough-bass part as played on a keyboard instrument, often supported by a cello, bassoon, etc

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• continuos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of continuo

1715–25; < Italian: literally, continuous

Example Sentences

Harpsichord and viola da gamba act as soloists as well as continuo; a modern lute song is a lullaby.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

There’s elasticity in the way the ensemble’s sound expands and contracts, reacting to fluctuations in the intensity of the characters’ feelings and enlivening music built predominantly from strings and continuo.

From New York Times • May 9, 2022

He shunned what he called the “gigantomania” of Wilhelm Furtwängler, under whom he would uncomfortably play continuo for Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” in 1950.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2022

Gracias a mi familia y a mi equipo Boomstick23 por su apoyo continuo.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 27, 2018

Nam benè concepti affectus, et recentes rerum imagines, continuo impetu feruntur, quæ nonnunquam morâ stili refrigescunt, et dilatæ won revertuntur.

From A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence The Works Of Cornelius Tacitus, Volume 8 (of 8); With An Essay On His Life And Genius, Notes, Supplements by Tacitus, Cornelius