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Glite Dictionary
👤 A surname 🌿 Latin for long 🎵 A long note
longa

longa

9.9
A long note in early music that lasts more than a breve
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : longa
  • The composer specified a longa to create a legato effect in the piece.
  • Curcuma longa

Examples

  • The base words of these compounds derive from ON barki and Lat. (navis) longa, respectively.

    Academic text (1996)

  • In early music notation, a longa is represented as a note with a longer duration than a breve.

  • Musicians in medieval Europe often used a longa to indicate a sustained sound in their compositions.

Compounds

Curcuma longa
  • Specialized
9.1

A tropical plant with yellow roots used to make the spice turmeric

Surface Forms

longa singular
longae plural

Etymology

Longa was the name for a very long note in early music, and the word comes from Latin longa meaning 'long', just like the English word long. That's why a longa is a note that lasts longer than others.