Etymology

cantabile

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Today it means: A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played in a lyrical manner Full definition →

Italian cantabile ← Latin cantabilis
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcantabilis“worthy to be sung”
  2. Italian · borrowed fromcantabile“singable, capable being sung”
  3. English todaycantabile

Borrowed from Italian cantabile (“singable, capable being sung”), derived from cantare (“to sing”). See also Latin cantabilis (“worthy to be sung”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.