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sinfonia

symphony

noun seen-foh-NEE-ah Rare

Origin: From Greek symphōnía ('sounding together').

Usage Note

Sinfonia is the standard Italian word for a symphony (a large-scale orchestral composition) and also names the overture of an opera in baroque usage. La Nona Sinfonia di Beethoven is a familiar example. The plural is sinfonie. The related adjective is sinfonico (orchestra sinfonica — 'symphony orchestra'). Note: sinfonia starts with 'sin-' not 'sim-', unlike English 'symphony' and its 'symph-' spelling.

Examples

"L'orchestra ha eseguito una sinfonia di Brahms."

Natural Translation

The orchestra performed a symphony by Brahms.

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