a cappella
adverb or adjective
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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
Nicholas Rice, People.com, 15 Feb. 2025
In came the school’s choir, which sang the national anthem a cappella, feelingly.
—Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
Both Jamie xx and Badu were billed to play at the afterparty, when Badu’s music equipment malfunctioned, leading the neo soul artist to give an impromptu a cappella performance.
—Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 29 Jan. 2025
Underwood notably delivered the performance a cappella, as the audio equipment failed for her set.
—John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“A cappella.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/a%20cappella. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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a cappella
adverb or adjectivefrom Italian a cappella "in chapel style"
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