acciaccatura

[ uh-chah-kuh-toor-uh; Italian aht-chahk-kah-too-rah ]

noun

, Music.

, plural ac·ciac·ca·tu·ras, ac·ciac·ca·tu·re [-, toor, -ey, -, toor, -ee, -, too, -, r, e].

1. a short grace note one half step below, and struck at the same time as, a principal note.

acciaccatura

/ ɑːˌtʃɑːkɑːˈtʊərə /

noun

1. a small grace note melodically adjacent to a principal note and played simultaneously with or immediately before it
2. (in modern music) a very short appoggiatura

Word History and Origins

Origin of acciaccatura¹

1875–80; < Italian: literally, a pounding, crushing, equivalent to acciacc ( are ) to crush, bruise (based on an echoic root ciacc- ) + -atura ( -ate ¹, -ure )

Word History and Origins

Origin of acciaccatura¹

C18: Italian: literally, a crushing sound

Example Sentences

I'm learning the guitar and I wanted to know what acciaccatura* meant.

From BBC

In the second half of the first bar, the acciaccatura was never intended by the composer to be actually sung as printed.

From Project Gutenberg

The appoggiatura is always accented, but the acciaccatura never is, the stress always falling on the melody tone.

From Project Gutenberg