crescendo
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Italian crescendo, gerund of crescere (“to grow, to increase”).
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.dəʊ/
- (US) IPA(key): /kɹɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.doʊ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Hyphenation: cres‧cen‧do
Noun edit
crescendo (plural crescendos or crescendi or crescendoes)
- (music) An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
- (figuratively) A gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax.
- Their fighting rose in a fearsome crescendo.
- (figuratively, nonstandard) The climax of a gradual increase.
- Their arguing rose to a fearsome crescendo.
- 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.
Usage notes edit
- The musical sense indicates that the figurative sense is an increase rather than the climax of the increase. The use of this word to mean the climax of an increase is nonstandard but commonplace.
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "music"): decrescendo, diminuendo
- (antonym(s) of "the climax of a gradual increase"): climax, conclusion
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb edit
crescendo (third-person singular simple present crescendoes, present participle crescendoing, simple past and past participle crescendoed)
- To increase in intensity; to reach or head for a crescendo.
- The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.
- 2021 November 1, Haley Nahman, “I got a camera to spy on my cat – and it made me question everything about myself”, in The Guardian[2]:
- And similarly, they are full of tricks: when the imagined stranger calls your name, the music crescendos romantically; when the video freezes on your laugh, it immediately desaturates the candid photo, making you look old-timey or famous or dead.
Adverb edit
crescendo (not comparable)
- (music) Gradually increasing in force or loudness.
Anagrams edit
Czech edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
crescendo n
Declension edit
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | crescendo | crescenda |
genitive | crescenda | crescend |
dative | crescendu | crescendům |
accusative | crescendo | crescenda |
vocative | crescendo | crescenda |
locative | crescendu | crescendech |
instrumental | crescendem | crescendy |
Further reading edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
crescendo
- crescendo (instruction to play gradually more loudly)
- (rare) crescendo (gradual increase, especially to a dramatic climax)
Declension edit
Inflection of crescendo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | crescendo | crescendot | ||
genitive | crescendon | crescendojen | ||
partitive | crescendoa | crescendoja | ||
illative | crescendoon | crescendoihin | ||
singular | plural | |||
nominative | crescendo | crescendot | ||
accusative | nom. | crescendo | crescendot | |
gen. | crescendon | |||
genitive | crescendon | crescendojen | ||
partitive | crescendoa | crescendoja | ||
inessive | crescendossa | crescendoissa | ||
elative | crescendosta | crescendoista | ||
illative | crescendoon | crescendoihin | ||
adessive | crescendolla | crescendoilla | ||
ablative | crescendolta | crescendoilta | ||
allative | crescendolle | crescendoille | ||
essive | crescendona | crescendoina | ||
translative | crescendoksi | crescendoiksi | ||
abessive | crescendotta | crescendoitta | ||
instructive | — | crescendoin | ||
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Further reading edit
- “crescendo”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
crescendo
Noun edit
crescendo m (plural crescendos)
Further reading edit
- “crescendo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Etymology edit
From Latin crēscendum (“increasing, growing”), gerund of crēscō.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
crescendo
Noun edit
crescendo m (plural crescendi)
- (music) crescendo
- (figurative) crescendo
Descendants edit
Further reading edit
- crescendo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /kreːsˈken.doː/, [kreːs̠ˈkɛn̪d̪oː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /kreʃˈʃen.do/, [kreʃˈʃɛn̪d̪o]
Participle edit
crēscendō
Portuguese edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
crescendo m (plural crescendos)
Verb edit
crescendo
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from Italian crescendo.
Adverb edit
crescendo
Noun edit
crescendo n (plural crescendouri)
Declension edit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) crescendo | crescendoul | (niște) crescendouri | crescendourile |
genitive/dative | (unui) crescendo | crescendoului | (unor) crescendouri | crescendourilor |
vocative | crescendoule | crescendourilor |
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from Italian crescendo.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /kɾeʃenˌdo} | ˈ{es pɾ/ [kɾe.ʃẽn̪ˌd̪o} | ˈ{es pɾ]
- IPA(key): /kɾeˈt͡ʃendo/ [kɾeˈt͡ʃẽn̪.d̪o]
- Rhymes: -endo
Noun edit
crescendo m (plural crescendos)
- crescendo
Usage notes edit
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “crescendo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish edit
Noun edit
crescendo n
Declension edit
Declension of crescendo | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | crescendo | crescendot | crescendon | crescendona |
Genitive | crescendos | crescendots | crescendons | crescendonas |