cadenza

Forms

cadenza f (plural cadenze)^[1]

Etymology

It is usually explained as borrowed from Latin cadentia, the neuter plural of cadēns (“falling”), the present participle of cadō (“to fall”): properly “the things that fall”, the strong beats of a rhythm.^[2][3][4][5] Zingarelli, DEI and Battaglia's dictionary call it a learned word, while Wiktionary gives Vulgar Latin *cadentia.^[4][6][5][1] Cortelazzo and Zolli and Nocentini list it under cadere, and GRADIT and the Treccani dictionary treat it as formed from Italian cadere + -enza;^{[7][8][9][10]} Nocentini adds that it first meant the closing formula of a piece of music.^{[7][8][9][10]} Devoto, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti take it through French cadence.^[11][2][3] Etymonline and DIFIT see the borrowing the other way, the French word from the Italian one.^[12][13]

The same Latin word gave, by inheritance, Old French cheance and French chance.^[6][3][14] De Vaan reconstructs *kad-e/o- for the Latin verb, perhaps from a PIE root meaning “to fall”.^[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Pietro Aaron's music treatise of 1525, for the close of a melodic line or a section of music.^[7][13][9] The sense “modulation of the voice, the tone typical of a language or dialect” follows in Giambattista Marino in 1623: e ripigliando le cadenze estreme (“and taking up again the last cadences”).^[7][16]

Semantic evolution

From music and verse the word spread to any regular rhythm: the step of a march or a dance, the stroke of rowers, and later a regular frequency.^[17][10] Florio's dictionary of 1598 and later ones up to 1797 also give cadenza for “fall” and “decline”.^[18] In the 18th century the term came to mean the virtuoso passage for the soloist near the end of an aria or concerto;^[13][10] DIFIT dates this sense to 1763.^[13][10] In old grammar cadenza was also the ending of a word.^[10][19]

English borrowed the Italian word as cadenza, the solo passage, in 1780, and German had Kadenz from the 16th century.^[12][13] English cadence, from the late 14th century, came through French.^[12]

Timeline

• 1525 – Pietro Aaron uses cadenza in music.^[7]
• 1598 – Florio has cadenza for “fall, decline”.^[18]
• 1623 – Giambattista Marino uses it for the fall of the voice or of a melody.^[7]
• 1763 – The sense “virtuoso solo passage” is recorded.^[13]
• 1780 – English borrows cadenza.^[12]
• 1886 – The verb cadenzare “to give rhythm to” is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The rise and fall of the voice before a pause, in speech or song; the rhythmic close of a period, line or stanza.^[9][2][3]
2. (music) A cadence: the melodic or harmonic formula that closes a piece or a section of it.^[9][2][10]
3. (music) A cadenza: a virtuoso passage for the soloist, written by the composer or improvised, near the end of an aria or concerto.^[9][2][4]
4. The typical intonation of a dialect or of someone's speech, an accent: parla con una cadenza siciliana.^[9][2][3]
5. The rhythm of a dance, a march or a sporting effort: tenere la cadenza.^[9][2][10]
6. (military) The order to stamp the right foot three times to set the pace of a march, and the action itself.^[9][2][10]
7. A regular frequency: un controllo a cadenza mensile.^[9][4][10]
8. (cinema) The number of frames that pass through a camera or projector in a given time.^[9][10]
9. (fashion) The falling line of a woman's dress, made by gathering the fullness below the waist.^[9]

Word family

• cadenzare
• cadenzato
• semicadenza

Related words

• cadere
• cadente
• French cadence
• French chance
• Latin cadō

Usage notes

Musical terms include cadenza perfetta, cadenza imperfetta, cadenza plagale, cadenza sospesa and cadenza d'inganno (deceptive cadence).^[9][10] The Old Romanesco caienza “piece of good fortune”, in the 14th-century Cronica of the Anonimo Romano, is a different word, from Old French cheance.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 657
7. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 73
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c d e f Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
15. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 488
17. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
18. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 408
19. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
20. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it