Definition of nocturne
:a work of art dealing with evening or night;
especially
:a dreamy pensive composition for the piano — compare aubade 3
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From the M-W Editors
Recent Examples of nocturne from the Web
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Pace and space We are always told that baseball is the shut-in's friend, the faithful companion of the elderly, the summer nocturne of our golden years.
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Pace and space We are always told that baseball is the shut-in's friend, the faithful companion of the elderly, the summer nocturne of our golden years.
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Moran's pianism — by turns as melodic as a nocturne by Chopin and as explosive as a solo by Cecil Taylor — proved consistently gripping.
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Everybody else was doing nocturnes and things like that.
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Mr. Pollini opened each half of his Chopin program with a pair of nocturnes, in minor and major keys; the F minor, after intermission, was especially fine.
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The second of two great septuagenarian pianists passing through New York this week brings with him an all-Chopin program, featuring two sets of nocturnes, a couple of ballades, a scherzo, a berceuse and the third of the composer’s sonatas.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nocturne.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of nocturne
borrowed from French, noun derivative of nocturne "of the night," going back to Middle French, borrowed from Latin nocturnus — more at nocturnal
NOCTURNE Defined for English Language Learners
nocturne
play
noun
Definition of nocturne for English Language Learners
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: a piece of music especially for the piano that has a soft and somewhat sad melody
Learn More about nocturne
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See words that rhyme with nocturne Spanish Central: Translation of nocturne Nglish: Translation of nocturne for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nocturne
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