English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia. Doublet of cadence and chance.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kəˈdɛnzə/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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cadenza (plural cadenzas or cadenze)

  1. (music) A part of a piece of music, such as a concerto, that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.
    • 1993, John Banville, Ghosts:
      Yes, laugh, as I want to laugh for instance in the concert hall when the orchestra trundles to a stop and the virtuoso at his piano, hunched like a demented vet before the bared teeth of this enormous black beast of sound, lifts up deliquescent hands and prepares to plunge into the cadenza.

Translations

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kaˈdɛn.t͡sa/
  • Rhymes: -ɛntsa
  • Hyphenation: ca‧dèn‧za

Etymology 1

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From Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadēns, present participle of cadō (to fall). Doublet of chance.

Noun

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cadenza f (plural cadenze)

  1. cadence
  2. rhythm
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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cadenza

  1. inflection of cadenzare:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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  • cadenza in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana