legato
UK /ləˈɡɑ.təʊ/ · US /ləˈɡɑ.toʊ/ adverb, noun
Forms legatos
- adverb (music) Smoothly, in a connected manner. “Play this passage legato, not portato.”
- noun (music) A style of performance characterized by smoothly connected notes.
- noun (music) A passage that is played legato.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian legato, past participle of legare (“to tie up, tie together, to bind”), learned borrowing from Latin ligō (“tie, bind”). Doublet of ligate.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Connected; tied; --a term used when successive tones are to be produced in a closely connected, smoothly gliding manner. It is often indicated by a tie, thus staccato.
Etymology [It., tied, joined, fr. legare to tie, bind, L. ligare.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “legato”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details