glissando

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noun

Either a continuous sliding from one pitch to another ("true" glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one melodic note to another ("effective" glissando).

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

nounglissando (countable and uncountable, plural glissandi or glissandos or glissandoes)

plural glissandi · plural glissandos · plural glissandoes

  1. countableuncountableentertainmentEither a continuous sliding from one pitch to another ("true" glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one melodic note to another ("effective" glissando).

    After another alternation of the two elements, there is a more playful episode, in which flute and bassoon take up the first element, with swooping glissando on the ondes Martenot.

    2018, Robert Philip, The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 465
  2. countableuncountableA method of playing an electric guitar in which a metal bar is held at right angles across the strings and rapidly moved up and down, creating a smooth, lush sound.
verbglissando (third-person singular simple present glissandos, present participle glissandoing, simple past and past participle glissandoed)

present singular third person glissandos · participle present glissandoing · participle past glissandoed · past glissandoed

  1. entertainmentTo play with a glissando or sliding effect.

Origin

  1. Italianglissando
  2. Italianglissando
  3. Englishglissando

Borrowed from Italian glissando.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 刮奏, 滑音
  • 刮奏 (guāzòu)musical term
  • 滑音 (huáyīn)musical term
Esperanto glisando
  • glisandomusical term
Finnish glissando
  • glissandomusical term
French glissando
  • glissandomusical term
Hungarian glissando
  • glissandomusical term
Italian glissando
  • glissandomusical term
Polish biegnik, glissando
  • biegnikmusical term
  • glissandomusical term
Spanish glisando
  • glisandomusical term
Cite this entry
APA

glissando. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glissando

MLA

“glissando.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glissando. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glissando,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glissando.

Source: glissando on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.