crescendo

English

Alternative forms

• cres.
• cresc.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian crescendo, gerund of crescere (“to grow, to increase”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kɹɪˈʃɛn.dəʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.dəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kɹɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/, /kɹəˈʃɛn.doʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cres‧cen‧do

Noun

crescendo (plural crescendos or crescendi or crescendoes)

1. (music) An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
2. (figuratively) A gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax.

   Their fighting rose in a fearsome crescendo.

3. (figuratively, nonstandard) The climax of a gradual increase.

   Their arguing rose to a fearsome crescendo.

   • 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport‎:

     With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.

Usage notes

• The musical sense indicates that the figurative sense is an increase rather than the climax of the increase. The use of this word to mean the climax of an increase is nonstandard but commonplace.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “music”): decrescendo, diminuendo
• (antonym(s) of “the climax of a gradual increase”): climax, conclusion

Translations

Verb

crescendo (third-person singular simple present crescendoes, present participle crescendoing, simple past and past participle crescendoed)

1. To increase in intensity; to reach or head for a crescendo.

   The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.

   • 2021 November 1, Haley Nahman, “I got a camera to spy on my cat – and it made me question everything about myself”, in The Guardian‎:

     And similarly, they are full of tricks: when the imagined stranger calls your name, the music crescendos romantically; when the video freezes on your laugh, it immediately desaturates the candid photo, making you look old-timey or famous or dead.

Adverb

crescendo (not comparable)

1. (music) Gradually increasing in force or loudness.

Anagrams

• conceders

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

crescendo n

1. (music) crescendo

Declension

Further reading

• crescendo in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• crescendo in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• crescendo in Internetová jazyková příručka

Finnish

Etymology

From Italian crescendo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkreʃendo/,

Noun

crescendo

1. crescendo (instruction to play gradually more loudly)
2. (rare) crescendo (gradual increase, especially to a dramatic climax)

Declension

Further reading

• “crescendo”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Adverb

crescendo

1. crescendo

Noun

crescendo m (plural crescendos)

1. crescendo

Further reading

• “crescendo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin crēscendum (“increasing, growing”), gerund of crēscō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kreʃˈʃɛn.do/
• Rhymes: -ɛndo
• Hyphenation: cre‧scèn‧do

Verb

crescendo

1. gerund of crescere

Noun

crescendo m (plural crescendi)

1. (music) crescendo
2. (figurative) crescendo

Descendants

• → English: crescendo
• → Spanish: crescendo

Further reading

• crescendo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kreːsˈken.doː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kreʃˈʃen.do/,

Participle

crēscendō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of crēscendus

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Noun

crescendo m (plural crescendos)

1. (music) crescendo (music to be play gradually more loudly)

Verb

crescendo

1. gerund of crescer; "growing"

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian crescendo.

Adverb

crescendo

1. crescendo

Noun

crescendo n (plural crescendouri)

1. crescendo

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian crescendo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɾeʃenˌdo} | ˈ{es pɾ/
• IPA^(key): /kɾeˈt͡ʃendo/
  • Rhymes: -endo

Noun

crescendo m (plural crescendos)

1. crescendo

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “crescendo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Noun

crescendo n

1. (music) crescendo

Declension