étude

American  

[ey-tood, ey-tyood, ey-tood, ey-tyood, ey-tyd] / ˈeɪ tud, ˈeɪ tyud, eɪˈtud, eɪˈtyud, eɪˈtüd /

noun

plural

études

1. a musical composition, usually instrumental, intended mainly for the practice of some point of technique.

2. study.

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étude British  

/ ˈeɪtjuːd, etyd /

noun

1. a short musical composition for a solo instrument, esp one designed as an exercise or exploiting technical virtuosity

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Etymology

Origin of étude

From French, dating back to 1830–40; study

Example Sentences

So he returned to the stage and started the gentle undulations of the A-flat major étude he had played some 40 minutes earlier — now with even more flowing naturalness.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2024

They even dared to parody South Korean girl group Blackpink for using a small part of a motif from Paganini's La Campanella étude in their song Shut Down.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2023

So when Luck launched into a low-tech étude, raucously inflating a balloon while gasping into a microphone, audience members couldn’t help but laugh.

From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2022

Even the third étude, rippling like sun-dappled brook, was undermined by an overly frenetic bass.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2019

Dès que vous connaîtrez bien les organes et concurremment avec cette étude vous devrez chercher à prendre une idée de la classification naturelle.

From Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville by Somerville, Mary