English
staccato
Staccato comes from Italian staccato ‘detached, disconnected’, from Old French atachier ‘to attach’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz ‘stick, stake’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakkaz‘stick, stake’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkā‘stake’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache‘a stake’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400estachier‘to fasten with or to a stake, lay claim to’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400atachier‘to attach’alteration of estachier
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400destachier‘to detach’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600destacher‘to detach’
- Italianc. 1300–presentdistaccare‘to separate, detach’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentstaccare‘to detach, separate’aphetic variant of distaccare
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentstaccato‘detached, disconnected’past participle of staccare
- Englishearliest quotation 1891same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakkaz‘stick, stake’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkā‘stake’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache‘a stake’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400estachier‘to fasten with or to a stake, lay claim to’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400atachier‘to attach’alteration of estachier
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400destachier‘to detach’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600destacher‘to detach’
- Italianc. 1300–presentdistaccare‘to separate, detach’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentstaccare‘to detach, separate’aphetic variant of distaccare
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentstaccato‘detached, disconnected’past participle of staccare
- Englishearliest quotation 1891same form
Earliest quotation: 1891, Oscar Wilde: “The same nervous staccato laugh broke from her thin…”
The story
Borrowed from Italian staccato (‘detached, disconnected’), past participle of staccare (‘to detach, separate’), aphetic variant of distaccare (‘to separate, detach’), from Middle French destacher (‘to detach’), from Old French destachier (‘to detach’), from des- + atachier (‘to attach’), alteration of estachier (‘to fasten with or to a stake, lay claim to’), from estache (‘a stake’), from Low Frankish *stakkā (‘stake’), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz, *stakô (‘stick, stake’), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (‘stick, stake’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘stick, stake’
detective, detection, detect, tile, thug, sauna, protégé, thatch, toga, toque, 27 more
through Proto-Germanic *stakkaz ‘stick, stake’
through Old French atachier ‘to attach’
attachment, etiquette, detachment, attach, 1 more
through Old French destachier ‘to detach’
through Italian staccare ‘to detach, separate’
Today it means
noun An articulation marking directing that a note or passage of notes are to be played in an abruptly disconnected manner, with each note sounding for a very short duration, and a short break lasting until the sounding of the next note; as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by a dot directly above or below the notehead.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *stakkaz / staccato