glissando

American  

[gli-sahn-doh] / glɪˈsɑn doʊ /

adjective

1. performed with a gliding effect by sliding one or more fingers rapidly over the keys of a piano or strings of a harp.

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noun

plural

glissandi

1. a glissando passage.

2. (in string playing) a slide.

glissando British  

/ ɡlɪˈsændəʊ /

noun

1. a rapidly executed series of notes on the harp or piano, each note of which is discretely audible

2. a portamento, esp as executed on the violin, viola, etc

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Etymology

Origin of glissando

1870–75; < French gliss ( er ) to slide + Italian -ando gerund ending

Compare meaning

How does glissando compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• portamento vs. glissando

Example Sentences

His left hand hovers over the strings along the neck, a cylindrical tube held between his thumb and middle finger drawing the metallic tones into a smooth glissando when it touches steel.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2024

She likened the sound of this brief passage to a quick, abbreviated glissando on a piano.

From Scientific American • Jan. 5, 2023

And the British folk scene is particularly specific and it doesn’t have any of the glissando and the kind of flattened thirds, kind of blue notes which I have spent my life bathing in.

From Washington Post • Jun. 7, 2022

The weightiness of von Trier’s story arc is signaled right away, with the occasional solemn glissando or a rest that halts the music’s momentum.

From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2020

From behind the walls, a tremendous glissando trumps forth from Sammy’s piano, and I turn to number forty-five’s mom and say, “Wow, what a dramatic audition song. What’s he singing?”

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle