legato
Syllables: le·ga·to/ləˈɡɑ.təʊ/US/ləˈɡɑ.toʊ/
legato adverb: smoothly, in a connected manner.
Adverb
legato (not comparable)
Noun
legato (countable and uncountable, plural legatos)
- A style of performance characterized by smoothly connected notes.
- It is the coördination of the finger and hand as examplified in the proportionate speed of shifting according to the speed of the musical passage, which makes for evenness, continuity, smoothness, and ultimately, a fine legato.1936, Edward E. Cramer, The Basis of Artistry in Violin Playing, page 49
- At the end of the prelude of Caprice V, there is a chromatic ascending and descending scale of forty-eight notes to be played in one bow in legato.1979, Leslie Sheppard, Herbert R. Axelrod ·, Paganini, page 604
- A passage that is played legato.
- It schools the mind to watch for the legato all the time, as its absence at the organ is mor prominent than at the piano; but beyond this point it renders little assitance to the pianist.1893, The Organ: Monthly Journal Devoted to the King of Instruments, page 198
- A good pianist, however, will make his audience believe that he is as capable of performing a legato as is a singer or violinist.1958, József Gát, The Technique of Piano Playing, page 95
legato meaning in Tagalog
legato in Tagalog
- slur curve
- banayad
Examples of legato in a sentence
- “[…]If you’re shooting an entire scene, there’s a more legato rhythm, a crest and a fall, some gradation.2025 March 4, Jonah Weiner, quoting Robert Pattinson, “The ‘Parasite’ Director Brings Class Warfare to Outer Space”, in The New York Times...
- Legatos are indicated in both notations by a bow between respective notes.2000, Chroma Report, page 15:
Antonyms of legato
Forms of legato
| plural | legatos |
|---|
Origin of legato
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.
Words formed from legato
Words that rhyme with legato
Questions about legato
- What does legato mean?
- Legato means smoothly, in a connected manner.
- What is legato in Tagalog?
- Legato in Tagalog is banayad. See Legato meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use legato in a sentence?
- “[…]If you’re shooting an entire scene, there’s a more legato rhythm, a crest and a fall, some gradation.
- What part of speech is legato?
- Legato can be an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce legato?
- Legato is pronounced /ləˈɡɑ.təʊ/ (UK).
Words near legato in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: legato (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-legato.wav.
Cite this entry: “legato.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/legato. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.