Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An obsolete double-reed instrument with a soft tone.
- n. A mute, especially one for a violin.
- n. A stop on an organ producing a low, muted tone.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as mute, 3.
- n. In the harmonium, a mechanical stop whereby the supply of wind to the lower vibrators is partially cut off, and the playing of full chords softly is facilitated.
- Softly played; muted; pathetic.
Wiktionary
- n. music, historical A muted trumpet.
- n. music, historical A mute; a damper.
- adj. Muffled, muted; subdued.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an organ stop resulting in a soft muted sound
- n. a mute for a violin
Etymologies
- From French sourdine. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Italian sordina, feminine of sordino, a mute, diminutive of sordo, deaf, mute; see sordino. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“En sourdine posted by Cooper Renner in beauty, music | * | comment”
“A shambling family of starlings on Coll in May, debauched and chaotic and moaning about winter, above a corncrake still stoking up the year with its crex crex song “endorsing summer” as Louis MacNeice says, with the “sourdine in their throat” as Andrew Marvell says;”
“Or a ladyeater may perhaps have casualised as you temptoed her … la sourdine: Of your plates?”
“The more complete sourdine, which muted all the strings by contact of a long strip of leather, acted as the staccato, pizzicato, or pianissimo.”
“Many are like the music en sourdine of Paul Verlaine in his "Chanson D'Automne" or "Le Piano que Baise une Main Frele.”
“sourdine in their throat—Andrew Marvell, “Upon Appleton House,” Marvell, p.”
“La liberté de la contradiction centuple le prix d'une libre adhésion; et à force de mettre une sourdine à toutes les émotions du pays, il faut prendre garde qu'on ne se trouve un jour dans l'impossibilité de faire vibrer les cordes les plus essentielles quand le moment des dangers et des sacrifices sera arrivé. ']' I deeply regret the publication of that letter.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sourdine’.
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Pull out the stops
Organ stops, that is.
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