presto

[pres-toh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR presto ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

quickly, rapidly, or immediately.

at a rapid tempo (used as a musical direction).

adjective

quick or rapid.

executed at a rapid tempo (used as a musical direction).

noun, plural pres·tos.

Music. a movement or piece in quick tempo.

Origin of presto

1590–1600; < Italian: quick, quickly < Late Latin praestus (adj.) ready, Latin praestō (adv.) at hand

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for presto

fast, instantaneous, magic, rapidly, suddenly

Examples from the Web for presto

Contemporary Examples of presto

And presto: polio returned—first in Nigeria then across Africa and into Asia, following an established migration pattern.
The CIA's Dangerous Vaccine Stunt
Kent Sepkowitz
July 13, 2011
Toss a Cinderella- or Stockholm Syndrome-type victim into the mix and presto!
Wives Gone Wild!
Elizabeth Hayt
February 26, 2009

Historical Examples of presto

Suddenly a little whiff of air enters the pile, when, presto!
Lippincott's Magazine, September, 1885
Various
A presto ingeniously represents the quick movements of the stag.
The Standard Oratorios
George P. Upton
A slight motion of one of my feet at this juncture, however, and, presto!
My Studio Neighbors
William Hamilton Gibson
Then my success is certain; I think you'll say so when I draw the curtain, And, presto!
The English Spy
Bernard Blackmantle
Then presto—the sun moves round, and my window is transformed!
The Story of Glass
Sara Ware Bassett

British Dictionary definitions for presto

presto

adjective, adverb

music to be played very fast

adverb

immediately, suddenly, or at once (esp in the phrase hey presto)

noun plural -tos

music a movement or passage directed to be played very quickly

Word Origin for presto

C16: from Italian: fast, from Late Latin praestus (adj) ready to hand, Latin praestō (adv) present

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 presto

adv.

1590s, "quickly," used by conjurers, etc., from Italian presto "quick, quickly" in conjuror's patter, from Latin praestus "ready," praesto (adv.) "ready, available," from prae "before" (see pre-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Cf. Latin praesto esse "to be at hand, be ready," source of French prêt "ready." As a musical direction, it is a separate borrowing from Italian, first recorded 1683.