Definition of "adagio" []

• Music In a slow tempo, usually considered to be slower than andante but faster than larghetto. Used chiefly as a direction. (adverb)
• Music A slow passage, movement, or work, especially one using adagio as the direction. (noun)
• A section of a pas de deux in which the ballerina and her partner perform steps requiring lyricism and great skill in lifting, balancing, and turning. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I love Mahler but the adagio from the 5th symphony is used ad nauseum and sentimentally, almost in a Max Steiner Warner."
• "(Soundbite of "Adagio for Strings) SIMON: The adagio is the second movement of Samuel Barber's" String Quartet, "the rest of that work having receded almost behind the power of the adagio."
• ": All-Parish Spelling Bee winner correctly spells 'adagio'"