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tremolo

[trem-uh-loh]
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noun, plural trem·o·los. Music.
  1. a tremulous or vibrating effect produced on certain instruments and in the human voice, as to express emotion.
  2. a mechanical device in an organ by which such an effect is produced.
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Origin of tremolo

1715–25; < Italian: trembling < Latin tremulus tremulous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tremolo

Historical Examples

  • I know you affect to scorn the cinema, and this was it, tremolo and all.

    Coming Home

    Edith Wharton

  • It made you shiver to hear the tremolo stop she put on her voice.

  • I have since learned that the greatest violinists do not overemphasise the tremolo.

    The Belovd Vagabond

    William J. Locke

  • The tremolo and sautill displayed the delicate flexibility of his wrist.

    Ole Bull

    Sara C. Bull

  • He did his best, and sang in tremolo from "Oh, Mother, the Mariner!"

    The Quest

    Frederik van Eeden

British Dictionary definitions for tremolo

tremolo

noun plural -los music
    1. (in playing the violin, cello, etc) the rapid repetition of a single note produced by a quick back-and-forth movement of the bow
    2. the rapid reiteration of two notes usually a third or greater interval apart (fingered tremolo)Compare trill 1 (def. 1)
  2. (in singing) a fluctuation in pitchCompare vibrato
  3. a vocal ornament of late renaissance music consisting of the increasingly rapid reiteration of a single note
  4. another word for tremulant
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Word Origin

C19: from Italian: quavering, from Medieval Latin tremulāre to tremble
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 tremolo

1801, from Italian tremolo, from Latin tremulus "trembling" (see tremulous).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper