Meaning & use
fermata
A musical symbol indicating that a note, chord, or rest should be held longer than its normal value.
See it in a sentence
The conductor raised her hands to signal a long fermata before the final chord.
A fermata over the last note gave the singer room to hold it dramatically.
A note on using this word
Fermata is written as a small curved line over a dot placed above the note or rest.
Words with a similar meaning
pausehold
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fermata”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.