a cappella

adverb or adjective

a cap·​pel·​la ˌä-kə-ˈpe-lə 

variants or less commonly a capella

: without instrumental accompaniment

The choir sang the chants a cappella.

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A Cappella Has Italian Roots

A cappella arrived in English in the 18th century via the Italian phrase a cappella, meaning "in chapel or choir style." (Medieval Latin capella, meaning "chapel," is the source of English chapel.) The a cappella style reached preeminence in the late 16th century in the music that composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina wrote for the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Because no independent instrumental parts were written down, scholars once thought that the choir sang unaccompanied, but current evidence makes clear that an organ or other instruments doubled some or several of the vocal parts. Regardless, today a cappella describes a purely vocal performance.

Examples of a cappella in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although the Music Center doesn’t thus far seem to be giving this anniversary much attention, the Master Chorale had a special program Sunday of 22 short, mostly a cappella pieces that ranged from the 16th century to the present. —Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2024

On an otherwise unremarkable day, 65,000 punk-rock music enthusiasts who had gathered at London’s Hyde Park to listen to American band Green Day on July 1, 2017, created history by erupting in spontaneous a cappella singing. —Deepa Nagraj, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2024

Hundreds of phones were lit up in Lyon’s massive Tony Garnier concert hall, and crowds spontaneously continued singing a cappella after the karaoke session in a poignant eulogy to Blanc. —Lise Pedersen, Variety, 13 Oct. 2024

Guitar, piano, flute, lute, violin, sax, orchestra, rock band, a cappella. —Sigrid Nunez, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Italian a cappella "in chapel or choir style"

First Known Use

1785, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

a cappella

adverb or adjective

a cap·​pel·​la

variants also a capella

ˌäk-ə-ˈpel-ə 

: without accompanying instrumental music

sing a cappella

Etymology

from Italian a cappella "in chapel style"