acciaccatura
Syllables: ac·ciac·ca·tu·raUK/əˌt͡ʃækəˈtjʊəɹə//əˌt͡ʃɑkəˈtʊɹə/
acciaccatura noun: a short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.
Noun
acciaccatura (plural acciaccaturas or acciaccature)
- A short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.
Forms of acciaccatura
| plural | acciaccaturas |
|---|---|
| plural | acciaccature |
| alternative misspelling | acciacatura |
Origin of acciaccatura
Borrowed from Italian acciaccatura, from the verb acciaccare (“to crush”).
Words that rhyme with acciaccatura
Questions about acciaccatura
- What does acciaccatura mean?
- Acciaccatura means a short grace note (theoretically taking no time at all), occurring on the beat occupied by the main note to which it is prefixed, one scale-step higher or lower than that main note. (Sometimes equivalent, therefore, to a short appoggiatura, but in Baroque music interpreted differently and more strictly.) Written as a note lighter in appearance, typically a quaver (eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem.
- What part of speech is acciaccatura?
- Acciaccatura is a noun.
- How do you pronounce acciaccatura?
- Acciaccatura is pronounced /əˌt͡ʃɑkəˈtʊɹə/ (US).
- What is the plural of acciaccatura?
- The plural of acciaccatura is acciaccaturas.
Words near acciaccatura in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: acciaccatura (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-acciaccatura.wav.
Cite this entry: “acciaccatura.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acciaccatura. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
