arpeggio

noun

ar·​peg·​gio är-ˈpe-jē-ˌō 

-ˈpe-jō

plural arpeggios

1

: production of the tones of a chord in succession and not simultaneously

2

: a chord played in arpeggio

Examples of arpeggio in a Sentence

The guitarist warmed up with a few simple arpeggios.

Recent Examples on the Web

Textures and gestures, such as upward glissandos or pizzicato arpeggios are similarly indicated. —Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Nov. 2023

Those études, from the early 1990s, may be aspirational in technique, but they are assured in craft: portals into Glass’s world of whirling arpeggios, shocking rhythmic and harmonic turns, and meditative discipline. —Joshua Barone, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023

In the Clarinet Sonata, Anthony McGill displayed eerily beautiful arpeggios just on the verge of audibility. —Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Oct. 2023

This is a pointillist subjectivity, a psyche playing arpeggios. —Tobi Haslett, Harper's Magazine, 18 Sep. 2023

Muhly, more respectful than most, preserves the crisp, clean lines of Monteverdi’s score while filling in all manner of instrumental filigree: delicate arpeggios in the harp, buzzing tremolos in the strings, decorative flourishes in the winds. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023

The end of the second movement closes with a super-soft arpeggio that sits on a suspension. —Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2023

This was aided by Nelsons’s crisp conducting and the occasional arpeggio from a harpsichord in the recitatives. —Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023

Passard renamed his new venture, Arpège, the French word for arpeggio, a name that like the establishment’s original name (which means orchestra en francais) pays tribute to his second love: music. —Mary Squillace, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Italian, noun derivative of arpeggiare "to play the harp," from arpa "harp" (going back to a Vulgar Latin loan from Germanic *harpō- "harp") + -eggiare, factitive verb suffix, going back to Latin -idiāre, originally representing variant pronunciation (or spelling variant) of -izāre -ize — more at harp entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1724, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

arpeggio

noun

ar·​peg·​gio är-ˈpej-ō 

-ˈpej-ē-ˌō

plural arpeggios

1

: the playing of the tones of a chord in succession and not at the same time

2

: a chord played in arpeggio