n. Music 1. The prolongation of a tone, chord, or rest beyond its indicated time value. 2. The sign indicating this prolongation. [Italian, from feminine past participle of fermare, to stop, from Latin firmāre, to make firm, from firmus, firm; see dher- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] (click for a larger image) fermatafrom St. Matthew Passion (1729) by Johann Sebastian Bach |
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