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ossia.

In a musical score, an alternative version of a passage, usually just a few measures long. The alternative may be an easier version of a particularly difficult passage, or a more difficult version of a passage.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɑsiə/General-American/ˈɔsiə/General-American/oʊˈsiə/General-American/ˈɒsɪə/Received-Pronunciation
  1. In a musical score, an alternative version of a passage, usually just a few measures long. The alternative may be an easier version of a particularly difficult passage, or a more difficult version of a passage.

Where this word comes from

From Italian ossia (“or rather”).

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ossia has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

ossia studioossia workshello, ossia

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.