passacaglia

• passacaille, passecaille

Borrowed from Italian passacaglia, from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌpasəˈkɑːlɪ.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpɑsəˈkɑljə/

passacaglia (countable and uncountable, plural passacaglias)

1. (music) A form of historical Spanish or Italian dance characterised by a serious nature, triple meter, and use of a ground bass.
   • 1902 [1898], [George] Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite […] ‎^[1], second edition, London: Grant Richards, page 3:

     In classical music there are, as the analytical programs tell us, first subjects and second subjects, free fantasias, recapitulations, and codas; there are fugues, with counter-subjects, strettos, and pedal points; there are passacaglias on ground basses, canons ad hypodiapente, and other ingenuities, which have, after all, stood or fallen by their prettiness as much as the simplest folk-tune.

2. (music, by extension) Any piece of classical music with similar characteristics.

• chaconne

• passacaglio m (archaic)

Borrowed from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌpas.saˈkaʎ.ʎa/
• Rhymes: -aʎʎa
• Hyphenation: pas‧sa‧cà‧glia

passacaglia f (plural passacaglie)

1. (music) passacaglia (historical Spanish dance)

Unadapted borrowing from Italian passacaglia.

passacaglia f (uncountable)

1. passacaglia