mezzo
メゾ
解説 Definition
mezzo は、音楽で「中くらいの、ほどよく」という意味を表す語です。日本語の「メゾ」は音楽用語や声域名として使われますが、英語では mezzo-soprano など複合語の中でよく使われます。
In music, mezzo is a noun or modifying term indicating a middle or moderate degree, especially of loudness or vocal range. It commonly appears in expressions such as mezzo-forte, mezzo-piano, and mezzo-soprano rather than as an independent everyday English word.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
イタリア語 mezzo「半分・中間」を、medium「中程度」と同じラテン語 medius の仲間として覚えます。楽譜では単独または mezzo-forte、mezzo-piano の一部として「ほどよく、中くらいに」を示します。mezzo-soprano ならソプラノと低い声域との中間、という共通の核があります。
Connect mezzo with the idea of the middle. It comes from an Italian word meaning “half” or “middle,” and it is related historically to medium through Latin medius. On a score, imagine mezzo softening an extreme: mezzo-forte is moderately loud, while mezzo-piano is moderately soft. In mezzo-soprano, it identifies a voice range between the higher soprano and the lower contralto range. These combinations all share one memory core—neither one extreme nor the other, but an intermediate degree. This is a musical term, so learn it through score markings and voice types rather than ordinary conversational uses.
例文
The teacher marked the passage mezzo to show a moderate volume.
先生はその部分に、ほどよい音量を示す mezzo と書き込みました。
In this score, mezzo tells the singer not to sing too loudly.
この楽譜では、mezzo は歌手に大きすぎない声で歌うよう示しています。
The choir director explained that mezzo often means a middle degree in musical directions.
合唱指揮者は、mezzo は音楽の指示で中程度を表すことが多いと説明しました。
mezzo の類義語・関連語
対義語
派生語
紛らわしい語
mezzo の語源・成り立ち Etymology
イタリア語 mezzo（半分の）から。ラテン語 medius（中間の）に由来し、英語の medium や medieval と同根。音楽用語で mezzo-soprano（メゾソプラノ）は「半分のソプラノ」、つまりソプラノとアルトの中間の声域を意味する。
Mezzo was borrowed from Italian mezzo, meaning “half” or “middle.” The Italian form ultimately derives from Latin medius, “middle,” which also lies behind English words such as medium and medieval. Italian terminology became standard in much Western musical notation, and mezzo developed specialized uses indicating an intermediate degree. Thus mezzo-soprano names a middle female vocal range, while mezzo-forte and mezzo-piano specify moderately loud and moderately soft dynamics respectively.
同じレベルの英単語をもっと
外部辞書で調べる
この単語を英単語クイズで覚えよう