Definition of a cappella
: without instrumental accompaniment
- The choir sang the chants a cappella.
variants:
or less commonly
a capella
Updated on: 21 May 2018
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Recent Examples of a cappella from the Web
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Gaba tracked down Throckmorton with the online sleuthing expertise of her friend and manager Amanda Newman, whose company, Varsity Vocals, produces a cappella tournaments.
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Contestants for the finals were chosen from a group of more than 25 people who sang a cappella during auditions in February.
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In the Russian capital, the whine of police sirens and the chanting crowds clashed with a nearby outdoor international music festival organized by the city, where performers sang a cappella to a small audience.
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In the Russian capital, the whine of police sirens and the chanting crowds clashed with a nearby outdoor international music festival organized by the city, where performers sang a cappella to a small audience.
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In the Russian capital, the whines of police sirens and the chanting crowds clashed with a nearby outdoor international music festival organized by the city, where performers sang a cappella to a small audience.
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Multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Pentatonix will sing the national anthem in front of more than 160,000 fans at the 2018 Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 5.
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Orlando’s Voctave, an 11-member a cappella group with four albums under its belt, will perform in February on a program that marks its orchestral debut.
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Victor Udoewa, a technology policy adviser, was changing his daughter’s diaper while his wife got ready to sing with her social-justice a cappella choir for the assembling marchers.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'a cappella.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
A cappella Has Italian Roots
A cappella arrived in English from Italian sometime around the late-18th century. In Italian, a cappella means "in chapel or choir style." Cappella is the Italian word for "chapel"; the English word chapel is ultimately (if independently) derived from the Medieval Latin word cappella, which is the source of the Italian cappella as well. Scholars once thought all "chapel style" music written before the 1600s was performed a cappella, but modern research has revealed that instruments might have doubled or substituted for some voices back then. Today a cappella describes a purely vocal performance.
Origin and Etymology of a cappella
borrowed from Italian a cappella "in chapel or choir style"
A CAPPELLA Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of a cappella for English Language Learners
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: without instrumental music
Learn More about a cappella
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See words that rhyme with a cappella Nglish: Translation of a cappella for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about a cappella
Seen and Heard
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