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

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Underwood notably delivered the performance a cappella, as the audio equipment failed for her set. —

John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025 The country star’s fans quickly took notice of her professionalism and praised her stunning a cappella rendition on social media. —

Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 20 Jan. 2025 The main character, who never speaks but does, in one moment, sing a Billy Joel song in flat a cappella, is Monica Bill Barnes. —

Gia Kourlas, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025 At one point, he was left wandering the stage, singing a cappella to an increasingly confused audience. —

Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for a cappella