Thursday, July 24, 2014

Word of the Day

hemidemisemiquaver
 \ hem-ee-dem-ee-SEM-ee-kwey-ver \  , noun;  
1.Music. Chiefly British . a sixty-fourth note.

Quotes:
Their gaiety consisted of ruling staves and copying a borrowed duet filled with hemidemisemiquavers .
-- Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander , 1969

Anything could follow, a hemidemisemiquaver  or a whole note; and the translator was charged with interpreting the score.
-- Ward Just, The Translator , 1991
Origin:
Hemidemisemiquaver  entered English in the mid-1800s, as an extension of demisemiquave , a thirty-second note. A quaver  is chiefly British word for an eighth note.

Dictionary.com