a cappella
adverb or adjective
Did you know?
A Cappella Has Italian Roots
A cappella arrived in English in the 18th century via the Italian phrase a cappella, meaning "in chapel or choir style." (Medieval Latin capella, meaning "chapel," is the source of English chapel.) The a cappella style reached preeminence in the late 16th century in the music that composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina wrote for the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Because no independent instrumental parts were written down, scholars once thought that the choir sang unaccompanied, but current evidence makes clear that an organ or other instruments doubled some or several of the vocal parts. Regardless, today a cappella describes a purely vocal performance.
Examples of a cappella in a Sentence
Spin Staff,
SPIN,
25 June 2026
Everybody on the Main Line knows Sean — a three-letter athlete at Haverford School who sang heartbreaking a cappella and hosted outrageous pool parties whenever his parents were in Bermuda or Maine.
—
Carly Tagen-Dye,
PEOPLE,
24 June 2026
Future updates tested the ability to upload videos or photos to inspire songs, in addition to using partial compositions, a cappella vocals, loops, and other audio uploads to create songs.
—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
22 June 2026
Who can forget that iconic theme song and the musical clues from the amazing a cappella group Rockapella (apologies if that theme song is now aggressively stuck in your head)?
—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
22 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for a cappella
Cite this Entry
“A cappella.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20cappella. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
a cappella
adverb or adjectivefrom Italian a cappella "in chapel style"
