What does "fantasia" mean?
A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces.
Fantasia
/fænˈteɪ.zɪ.ə/ name, noun
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces.
- Grammar: fantasia is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: caprice, divertissement, medley, potpourri.
- Usage evidence: The Fantasia, by Mr. [Pio] Cianchettini, is upon [Gioachino] Rossini's air "Tu che accendi," so often made the theme of piano forte lessons. […] Mr. Cianchettini's imagination is very vivid and full, and we know of nothing more florid or requiring lighter and more delicate touching than this Fantasia.
How to use "fantasia"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fantasia" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "fantasia" is acting as name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces. also, figuratively
"The Fantasia, by Mr. [Pio] Cianchettini, is upon [Gioachino] Rossini's air "Tu che accendi," so often made the theme of piano forte lessons. […] Mr. Cianchettini's imagination is very vivid and full, and we know of nothing more florid or requiring lighter and more delicate touching than this Fantasia."
- 2 a musical composition of a free form usually incorporating several familiar themes wordnet
- 3 Any work which is unstructured or comprises other works of different genres or styles. broadly
"It is, however, a ceremony of immense antiquity, and the chief civil festival of the year among the Arabs, who love nothing more dearly than a "phantasia" of this sort."
- 4 A traditional festival of the inhabitants of the Maghreb (in northwest Africa) featuring exhibitions of horsemanship.
"As for the wonderful feats of horsemanship one hears of or sees among the Arabs, they are due to sharp spurs like razors, and to bits strong enough to break an animal's jaw. […] The favourite feat at their fantasias or fêtes of suddenly pulling up their horses short while at a hand-gallop, ruins their legs, and there is in consequence scarcely a horse to be seen whose hind-legs are not spavined."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from Italian.
Example
"The Fantasia, by Mr. [Pio] Cianchettini, is upon [Gioachino] Rossini's air "Tu che accendi," so often made the theme of piano forte lessons. […] Mr. Cianchettini's imagination is very vivid and full, and we know of nothing more florid or requiring lighter and more delicate touching than this Fantasia."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fantasia"?
Common synonyms include: caprice, divertissement, medley, potpourri, rhapsody, romance.
How do you use "fantasia" in a sentence?
The Fantasia, by Mr. [Pio] Cianchettini, is upon [Gioachino] Rossini's air "Tu che accendi," so often made the theme of piano forte lessons. […] Mr. Cianchettini's imagination is very vivid and full, and we know of nothing more florid or requiring lighter and more delicate touching than this Fantasia.
How do you pronounce "fantasia"?
Pronounced /fænˈteɪ.zɪ.ə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Italian fantasia (“imagination, fancy, fantasy; musical composition with improvisational characteristics”), from Latin phantasia (“fancy, fantasy; imagination”), borrowed from Ancient Greek φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (phăntăsĭ́ā, “appearance, look; display, presentation; pageantry, pomp; impression, perception; image”), from φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (Phắntăsĭs) is derived from φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō, “to make visible, show; to become visible, appear; to imagine”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to appear; to reveal; to shine”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). The English word is a doublet of fancy, fantasy, phantasia, and phantasy.
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Italian Fantasia.