passacaglia Hear it!

passacaglia definition

passa·ca·glia (päs′ə käl)

noun

  1. a slow, stately Italian, Spanish, or French dance of the 17th c., similar to the chaconne
  2. the music for this dance
  3. a musical form based on this dance, in 3/4 time and with a continuous ground bass

Etymology: pseudo-It < Sp pasacalle < pasar (< VL *passare, pass) + calle, street < L callis: so named from often being performed in the streets

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.