presto
/ˈprɛstəʊ
/adverb & adjective Music
(Especially as a direction) in a quick tempo.The final presto measures will leave you breathless....
- On the way to the golf course, my friend incidentally told me that public enemy number one for golfers is none other than the presto tempo.
- The symphony follows a traditional four-movement scheme (Andante, Scherzo, Adagio, and a presto Finale).
noun (plural prestos) Music
A movement or passage marked to be performed in a quick tempo.Pick items that are sedate rather than fleet-footed prestos and floated pieces at mezza voce rather than full-throttle....
- In reality, these three variations cannot be faster than Variation 1, since the corrente at a presto of metronome 108 is the absolute fastest of all Bach's simple-meter styles.
- The finale presto becomes almost a topos to the Persichetti aficionado.
exclamation
another way of saying hey presto.When people decide to undertake an initiative, they naively think that all they have to do is go out and collect the requisite number of signatures and then presto you're on the ballot-wrong....
- The ‘expert’ simply works their magic and presto the bank vault is open.
- Just five easy steps and, presto the rivers are interlinked.
Origin
Italian, 'quick, quickly', from late Latin praestus 'ready', from Latin praesto 'at hand'.