ostinato
/ɒstɪˈnɑtoʊ/noun
ostinato is spelled O-S-T-I-N-A-T-O: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ostinato means “A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ostinato is ostinatos or ostinati.
How many letters and syllables are in ostinato?
| Letters | 8: O-S-T-I-N-A-T-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 122,704th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ostinato?
Ostinato appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ostinato?
- /ɒstɪˈnɑtoʊ/
Ostinato has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ostinato.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ostinato
- ostinatos plural
- ostinati plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ostinato mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ostinato in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense music: figure that is repeated over and over:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Ostinato |
| Spanish | ostinato |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ostinato come from?
From Italian ostinato (“stubborn”). Doublet of obstinate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).