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lento

[len-toh; Italian len-taw]Music.
adjective
  1. slow.
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adverb
  1. slowly.
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Origin of lento

1715–25; < Italian < Latin lentus slow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lento

Historical Examples of lento

  • The Lento movement of "Ibéria" is like some drowsy, disheveled gipsy.

    Musical Portraits

    Paul Rosenfeld

  • The theme has an entirely new ring and answer when it enters Allegro after the Lento prelude.

  • The Allegro seems a mere irruption; for the Lento prelude reappears in full solemnity.

  • Lento in basses of the strings a strain sounds like a basic motive, answered with harmonies in the wood.

  • Allegro moderato, lento, fugue (for three voices) allegro moderato fugue (for four voices).

    Bach

    Charles Francis Abdy Williams

British Dictionary definitions for lento

lento

adjective, adverb
  1. to be performed slowly
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noun plural -tos
  1. a movement or passage performed in this way
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Word Origin for lento

C18: Italian, from Latin lentus slow
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

Word Origin and History for lento

"slowly" (musical direction), 1724, from Italian lento "slow," from Latin lentus "flexible, pliant, slow, sluggish" (see lithe). Related: Lentissimo.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper