Etymology

ostinato

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Today it means: A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment. Full definition →

Italian ostinato
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The story

  1. Italian · borrowed fromostinato“stubborn”
  2. English todayostinato

From Italian ostinato (“stubborn”). Doublet of obstinate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.