First Known Use: 1659
Dictionary
passacaglia
noun pas·sa·ca·glia \ˌpä-sə-ˈkäl-yə, ˌpa-sə-ˈkal-yə\
Definition of PASSACAGLIA
1
a : an old Italian or Spanish dance tune b : an instrumental musical composition consisting of variations usually on a ground bass in moderately slow triple time
2
: an old dance performed to a passacaglia
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Origin of PASSACAGLIA
modification of Spanish pasacalle, from pasar to pass + calle street, from Latin callis path — more at pase
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