poco a poco

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian poco a poco.

Adverb

poco a poco (not comparable)

1. (music) little by little; gradually

   Crescendo poco a poco – gradually getting louder.

Italian

Etymology

Compare Spanish poco a poco, Galician and Portuguese pouco a pouco, and French peu à peu. See a poco a poco.

Adverb

poco a poco

1. little by little, step by step, gradually, bit by bit

   Synonyms: a poco a poco, gradualmente, passo a passo, piano piano

Spanish

Etymology

Compare Italian poco a poco, Galician and Portuguese pouco a pouco, and French peu à peu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpoko a ˈpoko/ [ˌpo.ko a ˈpo.ko]
• Syllabification: po‧co a po‧co

Adverb

poco a poco

1. little by little, bit by bit, step by step, gradually

   Synonyms: paso a paso, poquito a poco

Descendants

• → Belizean Creole: poako poako

Further reading

• “poco a poco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025