staccato

English

/stəˈkɑːtoʊ/

noun
Definitions
  • (music) An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.
  • (music) A passage having this mark.
  • (figurative) Any sound resembling a musical staccato.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian staccato (disconnected, detached) derived from Middle French destacher (detach) derived from Old French destachier (detach), atachier (attach) derived from Frankish *stakka (stick, stake) derived from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (haystack, rick, a barn, barn, a short jacket) derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (cover, stick, stake, cover with a roof, pole, roof, rod, beam).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*(s)teg-

Gloss

cover, stick, stake, cover with a roof, pole, roof, rod, beam

Concept
Semantic Field

Basic actions and technology

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

棒

Emoji
🤭 📔

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms