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subito

[soo-bi-toh; Italian soo-bee-taw]
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adverb
  1. (as a musical direction) suddenly; abruptly: subito pianissimo.
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Origin of subito

1715–25; < Italian < Latin subitō orig., ablative singular neuter of subitus sudden, equivalent to sub- sub- + -i- (base of īre to go) + -tus past participle suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for subito

Historical Examples

  • Omnia subito is not its device, but that of the Gnostic heresy.

    Christianity and Greek Philosophy

    Benjamin Franklin Cocker

  • Subito morientur, et in media nocte turbabuntur populi, et auferent violentum absque manu.

    The Dance of Death

    Francis Douce

  • Tunc subito, nulla prcedente significatione, prorsus exui nudarique se omni gaudio sentiret.

  • In qua, subito a lictoribus quos regina non procul absconderat, rex innocens suffocatus expirauit.

    Beowulf

    R. W. Chambers

  • Cuius subito adventu repressus Hannibal receptui cecinit, palam confessus ab se Minucium, se a Fabio victum esse.

    Selections from Viri Romae

    Charles Franois L'Homond

British Dictionary definitions for subito

subito

adverb
  1. music (preceding or following a dynamic marking, etc) suddenly; immediatelyAbbreviation: sub
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Word Origin

C18: via Italian from Latin: suddenly, from subitus sudden, from subīre to approach, from sub- (indicating stealth) + īre to go
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