sforzando

[ sfawrt-sahn-doh; Italian sfawr-tsahn-daw ]

adjective, adverbMusic.
  1. with force; emphatically.

Origin of sforzando

1
1795–1805; <Italian, gerund of sforzare to show strength <Vulgar Latin *exfortiāre;see effort

Words Nearby sforzando

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sforzando in a sentence

  • Victor had much difficulty in reading the notes readily and not confounding the terms adagio, presto, and sforzando.

    Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2 | Gustave Flaubert
  • So often as a sforzando occured, he tore his arms which he had previously crossed upon his breast, with great vehemence asunder.

  • At the first sforzando he threw out his arms so wide asunder, that he knocked both the lights off the piano upon the ground.

  • In the second theme, which begins in the 44th measure, note the piquant dissonances coupled with sforzando accents.

    Music: An Art and a Language | Walter Raymond Spalding
  • The terms sforzando, forzando, sforzato and forzato all indicate a strong accent on a single tone or chord.

British Dictionary definitions for sforzando

sforzando

sforzato (sfɔːˈtsɑːtəʊ)

/ (sfɔːˈtsɑːndəʊ) music /


adjective, adverb
  1. to be played with strong initial attack: Abbreviation: sf

noun
  1. a symbol, mark, etc, such as >, written above a note, indicating this

Origin of sforzando

1
C19: from Italian, from sforzare to force, from ex- 1 + forzare, from Vulgar Latin fortiāre (unattested) to force 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012