staccato
Adjective · AdverbSynonyms:
disconnected
WordNet 3.0
Adjective (1)
- (music) marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds; cut short crisply“staccato applause”“a staccato command”“staccato notes”Synonyms: disconnected
Adverb (1)
- separating the notes; in music“play this staccato, please”
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Staccato \Stac*ca"to\ (st[.a]k*k[aum]"t[-o]), a. [It., p. p. of staccare, equivalent to distaccare. See Detach.]
1.(Mus.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic. [1913 Webster]
2.Expressed in a brief, pointed manner. [1913 Webster]
Staccato and peremptory [literary criticism].— G. Eliot.[1913 Webster]