fondamento

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fondamento (“foundation”). Doublet of fundament.

Noun

fondamento (plural fondamentos)

1. A quay along an Italian waterway.
   • 1991, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Green shades: an anthology of plants, gardens and gardeners, page 84:

     That view up the fondamento is at all times one of the loveliest aspects of the lovely little island town, but in the month of May a strange enchantment is added.

   • 2006, Grace Tiffany, The Turquoise Ring, page 187:

     She met Jessica in the piazza, or at the fondamento near the Canale Grande and the Canale di Cannaregio, or in the Church of San Marco by the statue of the Magdalen.

   • 2008, Laurel Corona, The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice:

     The girls walked single file along a narrow fondamento until they turned onto a borader walkway along a bigger canal.

2. (music) An instrumental bass part that forms the basis of the melody, and against which other instruments provide harmony.
   • 1931, John Tasker Howard, Our American Music: Three Hundred Years of It, page 25:

     John Frederick Peter, born in 1746, left behind him an ambitious work, dated 1763, entitled Partitur einer Freuden Music zum Friedens Dank Feste, scored for four-part chorus and strings, two flutes, two trumpets and fondamento."

   • 1949, Ruth Halle Rowen, Early chamber music, page 79:

     In the same collection there appeared a quatuor with four melodic instruments: flute, oboe, violin, and cello, besides the fondamento or figured bass.

   • 2000, Historic Brass Society Journal - Volume 12, page 152:

     Further, it is clear from the score that the "fifth horn in B-flat basso" is in reality only a fondamento part performed by the basso continuo in imitation of and to support the upper lines;

   • 2006, Early Music Review - Issues 111-116, page 4:

     The Fondamento really is very basic, though the detailed fingerings are of interest.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin fundāmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fon.daˈmen.to/
• Rhymes: -ento
• Hyphenation: fon‧da‧mén‧to

Noun

fondamento m (plural fondamenti m or (building foundations) fondamenta f)

1. fundamental
2. foundation, basis
3. (architecture, usually in the plural) foundations, groundwork

Usage notes

• The feminine plural fondamenta is used for foundations of a building.

Related terms

• fondamenta
• fondamentale

Descendants

• → English: fondamento

Further reading

• fondamento in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• fomentando