cadenza

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cadenza, from Latin cadentia. Doublet of cadence and chance.

Noun

cadenza (plural cadenzas or cadenze)

1. (music) A part of a piece of music, such as a concerto, that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.
   • 1993, John Banville, Ghosts

     Yes, laugh, as I want to laugh for instance in the concert hall when the orchestra trundles to a stop and the virtuoso at his piano, hunched like a demented vet before the bared teeth of this enormous black beast of sound, lifts up deliquescent hands and prepares to plunge into the cadenza.

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadēns, present participle of cadō (“to fall”).

Noun

cadenza f (plural cadenze)

1. cadence
2. rhythm

Verb

cadenza

1. third-person singular present indicative of cadenzare
2. second-person singular imperative of cadenzare