da capo

[ dah kah-poh; Italian dah kah-paw ]

adjective, adverb

repeated from the beginning (used as a musical direction).

noun

a section of music that is to be repeated from the beginning.

Origin of da capo

1715–25; <Italian: literally, from the head; see da, chief

Words Nearby da capo

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

How to use da capo in a sentence

Reprinted courtesy of da capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
The Night the SEALS Captured the Butcher of Fallujah | Patrick Robinson | November 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Cami Walker is the author of 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life (da capo Lifelong Books, 2009).
The 7-Day Holiday Giving Challenge | Cami Walker | December 14, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
The baron's fire was just in this delightful da capo condition, most favorable of all to the enjoyment of the dolce far niente.
In the Yule-Log Glow, Book II | Various
At the conclusion of the opera the same scene occurred, and the house rang with cries of da capo Jessonda!
Louis Spohr's Autobiography | Louis Spohr
Gluck abolished the da capo Aria, because it was unfit for dramatic music.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 | Various

And so da capo—to any tune which happened to occur to them in their semi-regal license of King's free guardsmen.
The White Plumes of Navarre | Samuel Rutherford Crockett
I mean of course it's all pom pom pom very much what they call da capo.
Ulysses | James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for da capo

da capo

/ (dɑː ˈkɑːpəʊ) /

adjective, adverb

music to be repeated (in whole or part) from the beginning

Origin of da capo

C18: from Italian, literally: from the head

Abbreviation: DC

See also fine 3

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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