ostinato

ostinato

English

WOTD – 16 November 2011

Etymology

From Italian ostinato (“stubborn”). Doublet of obstinate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɒstɪˈnɑtoʊ/[1]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

ostinato (plural ostinatos or ostinati)

1. (music) A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment.
   • 2009, January 26, “Anthony Tommasini”, in Pricking Up the Ears to Listen for Echoes of California‎:

     The piece moves in alluring spans of swirling figures, jagged lines and pointillistic outbursts, often prodded forward by ostinatos in the perky piano.

Translations

music: figure that is repeated over and over

Catalan: ostinato m Chinese: Mandarin: 固定音型 (gùdìngyīnxíng), 頑固音型／顽固音型 (wángùyīnxíng) Esperanto: ostinato (eo) Estonian: ostinato (et) Finnish: ostinato (fi) German: Ostinato (de) m or n Macedonian: остина́то n (ostináto) Russian: остина́то (ru) n (ostináto) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: остина̑то Roman: ostinȃto (sh) Spanish: ostinato m

References

1. “ostinato”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

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Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ostinato, from Latin obstinātus (“firmly set, fixed”). Doublet of obstina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ostiˈnato]
• Rhymes: -ato
• Hyphenation: os‧ti‧na‧to

Noun

ostinato (accusative singular ostinaton, plural ostinatoj, accusative plural ostinatojn)

1. (music) ostinato (melody or chord progression repeated in a piece of music)

Related terms

• ripetfrazo (“riff”)

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Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ostinato.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈostinɑto/, [ˈo̞s̠t̪iˌnɑt̪o̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑto
• Syllabification^(key): os‧ti‧na‧to

Noun

ostinato

1. (music) ostinato

Declension

Inflection of ostinato (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		ostinato	ostinatot
genitive		ostinaton	ostinatojen
partitive		ostinatoa	ostinatoja
illative		ostinatoon	ostinatoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		ostinato	ostinatot
accusative	nom.	ostinato	ostinatot
	gen.	ostinaton
genitive		ostinaton	ostinatojen
partitive		ostinatoa	ostinatoja
inessive		ostinatossa	ostinatoissa
elative		ostinatosta	ostinatoista
illative		ostinatoon	ostinatoihin
adessive		ostinatolla	ostinatoilla
ablative		ostinatolta	ostinatoilta
allative		ostinatolle	ostinatoille
essive		ostinatona	ostinatoina
translative		ostinatoksi	ostinatoiksi
instructive		—	ostinatoin
abessive		ostinatotta	ostinatoitta
comitative		—	ostinatoineen

Possessive forms of ostinato (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	ostinatoni	ostinatomme
2nd person	ostinatosi	ostinatonne
3rd person	ostinatonsa

Anagrams

• soitanto, taistoon

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French

Noun

ostinato m (plural ostinatos)

1. ostinato

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o.stiˈna.to/
• Rhymes: -ato
• Hyphenation: o‧sti‧nà‧to

Etymology 1

From Latin obstinātus.

Adjective

ostinato (feminine ostinata, masculine plural ostinati, feminine plural ostinate, superlative ostinatissimo)

1. stubborn, obstinate

Related terms

• ostinatamente
• ostinatezza
• ostinazione

 

Noun

ostinato m (plural ostinati, feminine ostinata)

1. a stubborn or obstinate person

Participle

ostinato (feminine ostinata, masculine plural ostinati, feminine plural ostinate)

1. past participle of ostinarsi

Further reading

• ostinato in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• asintoto

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Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian ostinato.

Adverb

ostinato

1. ostinato

Noun

ostinato n (uncountable)

1. ostinato

Declension

declension of ostinato (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) ostinato	ostinatoul
genitive/dative	(unui) ostinato	ostinatoului
vocative	ostinatoule