pizzicato
piz·zi·ca·to/ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtoʊ/adverb, noun
pizzicato is spelled P-I-Z-Z-I-C-A-T-O: 9 letters and 4 syllables (piz·zi·ca·to). It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, pizzicato means “To be played by plucking the strings instead of using the bow” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pizzicato?
| Letters | 9: P-I-Z-Z-I-C-A-T-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: piz·zi·ca·to |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 92,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pizzicato?
Pizzicato appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th 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 pizzicato?
- /ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtoʊ/
Pizzicato has 4 syllables, split piz·zi·ca·to in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pizzicato.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pizzicato
- pizzicatos plural
- pizzicati plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pizzicato mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
To be played by plucking the strings instead of using the bow.
noun
- 1
A note that is played pizzicato
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate pizzicato?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of pizzicato: pizz..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pizzicato in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense musical instruction:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pizzicato |
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 pizzicato come from?
Borrowed from Italian pizzicato, past participle of pizzicare (“to pluck”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).