Legato definition

lĭ-gätō
legatos
See word origin
Frequency:
In a smooth, even style, with no noticeable interruption between the notes.
adjective
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In a smooth, even style without any noticeable break between the notes. Used chiefly as a direction.
adjective
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A legato passage or movement.
noun
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A passage to be played legato.
noun
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(Legato Systems, Inc., Mountain View, CA, www.legato.com) A leading provider of storage management and high-availability software founded in 1988 and acquired by EMC Corporation in 2003. Legato software, including Celestra data management (data mining, data migration, etc.), NetWorker backup and recovery, GEMS reporting and Cluster, were integrated into EMC's product line. See EMC.
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(music) Smoothly, in a connected manner.

Play this passage legato not portato.

adverb
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(music) A slur curve above or below a passage of notes indicating that they should be played in a legato manner.
noun
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Origin of legato

  • Italian past participle of legare to bind, tie together from Latin ligāre leig- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Borrowing from Italian legato, past participle of legare (“to tie up, tie together, to bind"), learned borrowing from Latin ligō (“tie, bind").

    From Wiktionary