arpeggio

noun

ar·​peg·​gio är-ˈpe-jē-ˌō 

-ˈpe-jō

plural arpeggios

1

: production of the tones of a chord in succession and not simultaneously

2

: a chord played in arpeggio

Examples of arpeggio in a Sentence

The guitarist warmed up with a few simple arpeggios.

Recent Examples on the Web

A lot of that music has more arpeggios and all these things that feel like processing and a lot of activity in that way. —Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2024

There's a six-dot strum zone to sound arpeggios and the fingerboard is divided into zones for chords that can be extended up or down if songs rock more than seven chords. —Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 5 Nov. 2024

Piano arpeggios drift in on the soundtrack, suggesting something lighter and more accepting even as the music flirts with atonality. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024

Unleashing jet streams of arpeggios, phrases, harmonics and licks, the New York native often looked as if he slow-danced with an invisible partner. —Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Italian, noun derivative of arpeggiare "to play the harp," from arpa "harp" (going back to a Vulgar Latin loan from Germanic *harpō- "harp") + -eggiare, factitive verb suffix, going back to Latin -idiāre, originally representing variant pronunciation (or spelling variant) of -izāre -ize — more at harp entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1724, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

arpeggio

noun

ar·​peg·​gio är-ˈpej-ō 

-ˈpej-ē-ˌō

plural arpeggios

1

: the playing of the tones of a chord in succession and not at the same time

2

: a chord played in arpeggio