crescendo

See also Crescendo

English

WOTD - 31 March 2009    

Alternative forms

• cresc.

Etymology

Italian crescendo, gerund of crescere (“to grow, to increase”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.dəʊ/, SAMPA: /krI"SEn.d@U/, /kr@"SEn.d@U/
• (US) IPA: /kɹɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.doʊ/, SAMPA: /krI"SEn.doU/, /kr@"SEn.doU/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cres‧cen‧do

Noun

Crescendo notation.

crescendo (plural crescendos or crescendi or crescendoes)

1. (music) An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ).
2. (figuratively) A gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax.

   Their fighting rose in a fearsome crescendo.

3. (figuratively, nonstandard) The climax of a gradual increase.

   Their arguing rose to a fearsome crescendo.

   • 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, BBC Sport:

     With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.

Usage notes

• The musical sense indicates that the figurative sense is an increase rather than the climax of the increase. The use of this word to mean the climax of an increase is nonstandard but commonplace.

Antonyms

• (music): decrescendo, diminuendo
• (the climax of a gradual increase): climax, conclusion

Translations

music: instruction to play gradually more loudly

Bulgarian: кресчендо (bg) (kreschendo) Czech: crescendo (cs) n. Finnish: crescendo (fi) Latin: crēscēns (la)

Polish: crescendo (pl) n. Russian: крещендо (ru) (kr'eš'éndo) n., крешендо (ru) (kr'ešéndo) n. Spanish: crescendo (es) m. Swedish: crescendo (sv) n.

figuratively: gradual increase

Finnish: crescendo (fi) Latin: crēscēns (la)

Spanish: crescendo (es) m.

climax of a gradual increase

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Mandarin: (Simplified Chinese) 渐强 / (Traditional Chinese) 漸強 (jianqiang) German: Crescendo n. Hebrew: קרשנדו Japanese: クレシェンド (kureshendo)

Korean: 점강음 (jeomgangeum)

Verb

crescendo (third-person singular simple present crescendoes, present participle crescendoing, simple past and past participle crescendoed)

1. To increase in intensity, to reach or head for a crescendo.

   The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.

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Czech

Noun

crescendo n.

1. (music) crescendo

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin crēscendum (“increasing, growing”), gerund of crēscō

Verb

crescendo

1. (gerund of crescere) growing, increasing

Noun

crescendo m. (plural crescendi)

1. (music) crescendo
2. (figuratively) crescendo

Descendants

• English: crescendo
• Spanish: crescendo

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Latin

Participle

crēscendō

1. dative masculine singular of crēscendus
2. dative neuter singular of crēscendus
3. ablative masculine singular of crēscendus
4. ablative neuter singular of crēscendus

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Swedish

Noun

crescendo n.

1. (music) crescendo

Declension

Declension of crescendo

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	crescendo	crescendot	crescendon	crescendona
genitive	crescendos	crescendots	crescendons	crescendonas