étude

noun

ˈā-ˌtüd How to pronounce étude (audio)
-ˌtyüd
1
: a piece of music for the practice of a point of technique
2
: a composition built on a technical motive but played for its artistic value

Examples of étude in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Advertisement Something similar happened with the composition of the etudes themselves. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024 Apparently, performing Musser’s etudes for marimba is a rite of passage for percussion majors. IEEE Spectrum, 1 Oct. 2023 But these songs are not so much referential as reverential: meditative daybreak etudes capable of conveying the feeling that all is right in the world. Pitchfork, 28 Sep. 2023 At its worst, the music on Everyone’s Crushed sounds like etudes – studies in experimentalism, finger exercises for tyros in the avant-garde. Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 26 May 2023 To treat those simply as etudes and exercises would be a disservice, and Ferrillo deployed the expressive acumen that BSO listeners know well, gracefully responding to the orchestra. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Mar. 2023 In the etude inspired by Native American Margaret Bradshaw’s My World is Not Flat, a playful Pueblo dance song comes up now and then. Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 10 Mar. 2021 So far, Wingfield has released a handful of etudes. Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2020 After Barker’s tour through the obstacle course of Gubaidulina etudes, Manuel de Falla’s radiant Concerto for harpsichord, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and cello ended the concert with a carnival of sound. BostonGlobe.com, 22 Oct. 2019

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, study, from Middle French estude, estudie, from Old French — more at study

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of étude was in 1826

Dictionary Entries Near étude

Cite this Entry

“étude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%C3%A9tude. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

étude

noun
: a piece of music for practice
Etymology

from French étude, literally, "study"

More from Merriam-Webster on étude

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!