lento

[len-toh; Italian len-taw]Music.

adjective

slow.

adverb

slowly.

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.
Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies
Philip H. Goepp
The Allegro seems a mere irruption; for the Lento prelude reappears in full solemnity.
Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies
Philip H. Goepp
Lento in basses of the strings a strain sounds like a basic motive, answered with harmonies in the wood.
Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies
Philip H. Goepp
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

to be performed slowly

noun plural -tos

a movement or passage performed in this way

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.