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

The punchy 3-minute melodic house track has an insistent 120 BPM beat and wobbly synth arpeggios, and was mixed by Mark Yardley of Stanton Warriors. —Spin Contributor, SPIN, 24 June 2024

Best Original Score Photo: Universal Pictures American Fiction Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things Holy arpeggio! —Nate Jones, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024

Infrared Reflections: Joshua Tree — Track #2 His favorite combines the drone of a theremin with spiraling arpeggios. —Christopher Intagliata, NPR, 3 June 2024

That beautiful language, with its lilting consonants and arpeggios of vowels. —Lina Mounzer, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Apr. 2023

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