vivace

[vi-vah-chey; Italian vee-vah-che]

adverb, adjective

(a musical direction) vivacious; lively.

Origin of vivace

1675–85; < Italian < Latin vīvāc-, stem of vīvāx, long-lived, lively; see vivacity

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

Examples from the Web for vivace

Historical Examples of vivace

She was in the habit of walking to mass at the cathedral with her maid Vivace.
Terribly Intimate Portraits
Nol Coward
The third movement is a vivace with the spirit of a Beethoven presto.
Contemporary American Composers
Rupert Hughes
The vivace of the A major symphony strikes, no less, as objective.
Beethoven's Symphonies Critically Discussed
Alexander Teetgen
She came to the end of the vivace movement, and abandoned her piece.
Aaron's Rod
D. H. Lawrence
Le souvenir de la Stilla, vivace comme au premier jour, tait identifi son existence.
Le chteau des Carpathes
Jules Verne

British Dictionary definitions for vivace

vivace

adjective, adverb

music to be performed in a brisk lively manner

Word Origin for vivace

C17: from Italian, from Latin vīvax long-lived, vigorous, from vīvere to live

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 vivace

1680s, from Italian vivace "brisk, lively," from Latin vivac-, stem of vivax "lively vigorous" (see vivacity).