sonata

[ suh-nah-tuh ]

/ səˈnɑ tə /

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noun Music.

a composition for one or two instruments, typically in three or four movements in contrasted forms and keys.

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Origin of sonata

1685–95; <Italian <Latin sonāta, feminine of sonātus (past participle of sonāre to sound¹). See sonant, -ate¹

Words nearby sonata

sonal, sonance, sonant, sonar, sonarman, sonata, sonata da camera, sonata da chiesa, sonata form, sonata-rondo, sonatina

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use sonata in a sentence

One afternoon we were watching Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From the first shots of Autumn Sonata it's clear that this is going to be slow going.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If the book were a piece of music, it would be a sonata of interlocking monologues.
How Hitch & Amis Discovered Evil In My House|Peter Foges|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With the dialogue all in Japanese, this feline plays a Tokyo Sonata of its own.
Catdance Film Festival: The 7 Most Hilarious Shorts (VIDEO)|Jean Trinh|January 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Stop puttering around, sit down at your desk, and write out the speech or practice the sonata 100 times.
Advice From the Oldest Americans|Casey Schwartz|October 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
When he plays a sonata it is as if the composition rose from the dead and stood transfigured before you.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
It was one day when a student from the Stuttgardt conservatory attempted to play the Sonata Appassionata.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
He took me to the house of a musical friend of his who was to lend me his grand piano, and there we tried our sonata.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
At all events, he seemed entirely satisfied, and said, "We could have played that sonata without rehearsing it."
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
The Waltz without opus number and the Sonata, Op. 4, are likewise posthumous publications.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician|Frederick Niecks

British Dictionary definitions for sonata

sonata

/ (səˈnɑːtə) /

noun

an instrumental composition, usually in three or more movements, for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata, etc)See also sonata form, symphony (def. 1), concerto (def. 1)

a one-movement keyboard composition of the baroque period

Word Origin for sonata

C17: from Italian, from sonare to sound, from Latin

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

Cultural definitions for sonata

sonata

[ (suh-nah-tuh) ]

A musical composition for one or two instruments, usually in three or four movements. The sonata of the classic era in music had a definite arrangement for its movements: the first and fourth had a fast tempo, the second had a slow tempo, and the third was in either playful style (a “scherzo”) or in dance form (a “minuet”).