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

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

His dotes on his pit bull, Peaches, for whom he named a non-lyrical, piano-only étude on his album — the sort of track that might get cut if there was another artist to answer to.

From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2021

And it’s the kind of moment that appears in subsequent piano repertoire: Mr. Levit pointed to the opening of Liszt’s “La Campanella” and the Marc-André Hamelin étude Liszt inspired.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2021

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

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2019

La femme romaine: étude de la vie antique.

From The Truth About Woman by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)