étude
Americannoun
-
a musical composition, usually instrumental, intended mainly for the practice of some point of technique.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of étude
From French, dating back to 1830–40; see origin at study
Explanation
An etude is a short, tricky tune that a musician plays mainly for practice or to demonstrate skill. Many etudes are meant to be played on the piano. Well-known composers like Debussy and Chopin wrote piano etudes that continue to be used for teaching beginning musicians. There are also etudes composed for other instruments, like guitar, violin, and cello. In French, the word étude means "study," from the Latin studium, which also means "study," though it first meant "eagerness," from studere, "to be diligent."
Vocabulary lists containing etude
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
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English Words Derived from French, List 8
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Under a Painted Sky
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Aussi son étude détaillée, qui par exception est rendue fort facile par la profondeur des vallons d’où il surgit, donne la clef de la structure géologique de beaucoup d’autres montagnes des environs.
From The Ascent of the Matterhorn by Whymper, Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
