adagio

See also: adágio and adagiò

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈdɑːd͡ʒiəʊ/, /əˈdæd͡ʒiəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

adagio (plural adagios)

2. (music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played rather slowly, leisurely and gracefully.
4. (music) A passage having this mark.
6. (dance) A male-female duet or mixed trio ballet displaying demanding balance, spins and/or lifts.

Translations

tempo mark indicating that music is to be played slowly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 慢板 (zh) (mànbǎn)

• Corsican: adaghju m
• Finnish: adagio (fi)
• Italian: adagio (it) m
• Polish: adagio (pl) n
• Portuguese: adágio (pt) m

Adverb

adagio (not comparable)

2. (music) Played rather slowly.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: adagio (fi), hitaasti (fi)
• Polish: adagio (pl)
• Tagalog: adahiyo

Adjective

adagio (not comparable)

2. (music) Describing a passage having this mark.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: adagio (fi)
• Polish: adagio (pl)

Basque

Etymology

Ultimately from Italian adagio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /adaɡio/ [a.ð̞a.ɣ̞i.o]
• Rhymes: -io, -o
• Hyphenation: a‧da‧gi‧o

Adverb

adagio (not comparable)

1. (music) adagio

Noun

adagio inan

1. (music) adagio

Declension

Declension of adagio (inanimate, ending in vowel)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	adagio	adagioa	adagioak
ergative	adagiok	adagioak	adagioek
dative	adagiori	adagioari	adagioei
genitive	adagioren	adagioaren	adagioen
comitative	adagiorekin	adagioarekin	adagioekin
causative	adagiorengatik	adagioarengatik	adagioengatik
benefactive	adagiorentzat	adagioarentzat	adagioentzat
instrumental	adagioz	adagioaz	adagioez
inessive	adagiotan	adagioan	adagioetan
locative	adagiotako	adagioko	adagioetako
allative	adagiotara	adagiora	adagioetara
terminative	adagiotaraino	adagioraino	adagioetaraino
directive	adagiotarantz	adagiorantz	adagioetarantz
destinative	adagiotarako	adagiorako	adagioetarako
ablative	adagiotatik	adagiotik	adagioetatik
partitive	adagiorik	—	—
prolative	adagiotzat	—	—

Further reading

• “adagio”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “adagio”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːˈdaː.dʒoː/, /aːˈdaː.(d)ʒi.oː/
• Hyphenation: ada‧gio

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin adā̆giō.

Noun

adagio n (plural adagios, diminutive adagiootje n)

1. adage

   Synonym: adagium

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Noun

adagio n (plural adagios, diminutive adagiootje n)

1. (music, dance) adagio

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio

Adjective

adagio (not comparable)

1. (music) describing a passage having this mark

Declension

Declension of adagio
uninflected	adagio
inflected	adagio
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		adagio
indefinite	m./f. sing.	adagio
	n. sing.	adagio
	plural	adagio
definite		adagio
partitive		—

Further reading

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.da(d)ʒ.jo/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio

Noun

adagio m (plural adagios)

1. (music) adagio

Further reading

• “adagio”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English adagio, from Italian adagio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈda.ɡjɔ/, /aˈda.d͡ʒɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɔ
• Hyphenation: a‧da‧gio

Noun

adagio

1. adagio
   1. (music) a tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played rather slowly, leisurely and gracefully
   2. (music) a passage having this mark
   3. (dance) a male-female duet or mixed trio ballet displaying demanding balance, spins and/or lifts

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈda.d͡ʒo/
• Rhymes: -adʒo
• Hyphenation: a‧dà‧gio

Etymology 1

Univerbation of ad (“at”) +‎ agio (“ease”).

Adverb

adagio (superlative adagissimo)

1. slowly

Noun

adagio m (plural adagi)

1. (music) adagio

Descendants

• → Dutch: adagio
• → English: adagio
• → French: adagio
• → Norwegian Bokmål: adagio
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: adagio
• → Polish: adagio
• → Portuguese: adágio
• → Romanian: adagio
• → Spanish: adagio
• → Swedish: adagio

Etymology 2

Verb

adagio

1. first-person singular present indicative of adagiare

Etymology 3

Learned borrowing from Latin adā̆giō.

Noun

adagio m (plural adagi)

1. proverb, adage or saying

See also

• aforismo
• proverbio
• apoftegma
• motto

Latin

Noun

adā̆giō f (genitive adā̆giōnis); third declension

1. Alternative form of adā̆gium

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	adā̆giō	adā̆giōnēs
genitive	adā̆giōnis	adā̆giōnum
dative	adā̆giōnī	adā̆giōnibus
accusative	adā̆giōnem	adā̆giōnēs
ablative	adā̆giōne	adā̆giōnibus
vocative	adā̆giō	adā̆giōnēs

Noun

adā̆giō

1. dative/ablative singular of adā̆gium

Further reading

• “adagio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• adagio in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio (“slowly”).

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio

Noun

adagio m (definite singular adagioen, indefinite plural adagioer, definite plural adagioene)

1. (music) an adagio

Usage notes

• Prior to a revision in 2020, this noun was also considered grammatically neuter.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio (“slowly”).

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio

Noun

adagio m (definite singular adagioen, indefinite plural adagioar, definite plural adagioane)

1. (music) an adagio

Usage notes

• Prior to a revision in 2020, this noun was also considered grammatically neuter.

Polish

Alternative forms

• adadżjo (pre-reform orthography (1936))
• adadżio

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian adagio. First attested in 1823.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈda.d͡ʐjɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ad͡ʐjɔ
• Syllabification: a‧da‧gio

Noun

adagio n (indeclinable)

1. (music) adagio (a tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played rather slowly, leisurely and gracefully)
2. (music) adagio (a passage having this mark)
3. (dance) adagio (a male-female duet or mixed trio ballet displaying demanding balance, spins and/or lifts)

Declension

Indeclinable, or rarely:

Declension of adagio

	singular	plural
nominative	adagio	adagia
genitive	adagia	adagiów
dative	adagiu	adagiom
accusative	adagio	adagia
instrumental	adagiem	adagiami
locative	adagiu	adagiach
vocative	adagio	adagio

Adjective

adagio (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (music) adagio (describing a passage having this mark)

Adverb

adagio (not comparable)

1. (music) adagio (played rather slowly)

Further reading

• adagio in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• adagio in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “adadżjo”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “adadżjo”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 7
• “adagio”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish], 2022

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Noun

adagio n (uncountable)

1. adagio

Declension

Declension of adagio

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	adagio	adagioul
genitive-dative	adagio	adagioului
vocative	adagioule

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈdaxjo/ [aˈð̞a.xjo]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -axjo
• Syllabification: a‧da‧gio

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio

Noun

adagio m (plural adagios)

1. (music) adagio

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin adā̆giō.

Noun

adagio m (plural adagios)

1. adage (old saying)

Further reading

• “adagio”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian adagio.

Adverb

adagio

1. (music) adagio (slowly)

Noun

adagio n

1. (music) adagio

Declension

Declension of adagio

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	adagio	adagios
	definite	adagiot	adagiots
plural	indefinite	adagion	adagions
	definite	adagiona	adagionas

References

• adagio in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈdahio/ [ʔɐˈd̪aː.hjo]
• Rhymes: -ahio
• Syllabification: a‧da‧gi‧o

Adverb

adágió (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜇᜑᜒᜌᜓ)

1. Alternative spelling of adahiyo