A cappella

English[]

Alternative spellings[]

a capella

Etymology[]

From Italian alla cappella (“‘in the manner of the [Sistine] chapel’”), referring to non-instrumental choirs; from Latin a-, ad, "to", + cappella, "chapel".

Pronunciation[]

Audio (US) noicon
(file)

Adverb[]

a cappella (not comparable)

Positive
a cappella

Comparative
not comparable

Superlative
none (absolute)

(music) Performed by a soloist or choir with no instrumental accompaniment; literally "in the style of the (Sistine) Chapel (in Rome)"; such as a musical Mass done a cappella.
(music) A time indication, equivalent to alla breve.
(music) Performed vocally without instrumental accompaniment.
Groups of teens singing a cappella on street corners got recording contracts.

Translations[]

performed by a choir with no instrumental accompaniment

Chinese: 无伴奏 cmn(cmn) (wubanzou)
Dutch: a cappella nl(nl)
Finnish: a cappella fi(fi)
French: a cappella fr(fr)
German: a cappella de(de)
Italian: a cappella it(it)
Japanese: アカペラに ja(ja) (akapera ni)

Korean: 반주 없게 ko(ko) (banju eopge)
Latin: ad sacellum la(la)
Lithuanian: kapela lt(lt)
Norwegian: a cappella no(no)
Russian: а капелла ru(ru)
Spanish: a cappella es(es)

a time indication, equivalent to alla breve