Definition of a cappella
: without instrumental accompaniment
- The choir sang the chants a cappella.
variants:
or less commonly
a capella
Updated on: 16 Jul 2018
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Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Recent Examples of a cappella from the Web
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In this chapter of the a cappella comedy, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, and Anna Camp reunite their fellow alum with Hailee Steinfeld's crew for one last string of performances together.
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At Mizzou, Bruce directed a co-ed a cappella group called Mizzou Forte.
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The lineup runs the gamut from rocker Robin Horlock (June 27) to contemporary a cappella group THUMMp (Aug. 15) and beyond.
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Nearly every day, performers fill the Red Line's station at Lake with smooth electric guitar riffs, or soulful a cappella, or improvised raps, or—as was the case on the afternoon of May 15—a voice nearly identical to Sam Smith's.
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Singing to tracks or a cappella will not be allowed.
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Jiler and Stitt first met in 1997, when his a cappella musical Avenue X was at the Wilma.
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Huntsville is home to Oakwood University, a hotbed of young talent that produced Take 6, the long-running a cappella group with at least 10 Grammy Awards to their credit.
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The song is made even more powerful by the way the band does it: completely a cappella.
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
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