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

As the song progresses, more elements—slow-moving filter sweeps, waltzing arpeggios, a deep and doomy bassline—appear and disappear, moving into the fore of the stereo field before corroding and flaking away. —Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 29 Jan. 2026

The piano plays mostly arpeggios; the strings fixate for hundreds of bars on a pair of hazy four-note chords. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

There’s also a revolving cast of characters, like musical theater snob Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), her pianist brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Troy’s puppy-dog-esque best friend Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu), all with varying levels of excitement about Troy’s sudden interest in arpeggio scales. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2026

In place of steady strumming, Weir played arpeggios, single notes, little riffs, and odd, jazzy chords. —David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2026

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