Meaning & use
Tenuto
Last updated
In music, indicating that a note should be held for its full length or slightly longer, with emphasis.
See it in a sentence
The conductor marked the phrase tenuto to give it a more sustained, expressive quality.
Play the final chord tenuto so it lingers before the silence.
A note on using this word
From Italian, literally meaning "held" or "sustained," and typically notated with a short horizontal line above or below a note.
Words with a similar meaning
sustainedheld
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Words with an opposite meaning
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