Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Stretto


Stret′to

,
Noun.
[It., close or contacted, pressed.]
(Mus.)
(a)
The crowding of answer upon subject near the end of a fugue.
(b)
In an opera or oratorio, a coda, or winding up, in an accelerated time.
[Written also
stretta
.]

Definition 2024


stretto

stretto

English

Noun

stretto (plural strettos or stretti)

  1. (music) The presence of two close or overlapping statements of the subject of a fugue, especially towards the end.
  2. (music) An acceleration in the tempo of an opera that produces an ending climax.

Adverb

stretto (not comparable)

  1. (music) With gradually increasing speed.

Adjective

stretto (not comparable)

  1. (music) Having gradually increasing speed.
    • 1960, Thomas Pynchon, Entropy:
      So that over and above the public components – holidays, tourist attractions – there are private meanderings, linked to the climate as if this spell were a stretto passage in the year’s fugue: haphazard weather, aimless loves, unpredicted commitments…

Anagrams


Italian

Etymology

From Latin strictus, perfect passive participle of stringō.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈstretːo/

Adjective

stretto m (feminine singular stretta, masculine plural stretti, feminine plural strette)

  1. narrow
  2. tight
  3. strict
  4. (linguistics) close

Derived terms

Antonyms

Noun

stretto m (plural stretti)

  1. strait

Related terms

Verb

stretto m (f stretta, m pl stretti, m f strette)

  1. past participle of stringere