fa

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɑ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin fa, the first syllable of Latin famuli (“servants”), the word sung to this note in the hymn for the feast of Saint John the Baptist (see gamut).^[2][3][4] It was used in Old French from the 13th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fourth note of the scale in Guido's hexachords: about 1325 in the OED, before 1300 in Barnhart.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The note names were taken by Guido from the opening syllables of each line of the hymn Ut queant laxis.^[6][2] The spelling fah is a later variant.^[7] A verb, to sing to fa, is recorded in 1592.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – the fourth note.^[5]
• 1592 – the verb.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (music) The fourth note of a major scale in solmization.

Related words

• fah
• gamut
• sol-fa
• do
• re
• mi
• famulus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press