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Today it means

presto

a musical direction to play very fast, or an exclamation meaning suddenly

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Where does the word "presto" come from? It comes from Italian presto, and was adopted directly into English (1700s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "presto" come from? It comes from Italian presto, and was adopted directly into English (1700s).

Presto’s story begins in Italian: presto meant “quick, fast.” Literally quick, ready, adopted as a musical tempo marking for very fast pieces. It reached English by 1700s as presto. Adopted for the very fast tempo, and separately as a magician's exclamation. Today, presto means a musical direction to play very fast, or an exclamation meaning suddenly.

  1. Stage 1 · Italian · 1600s presto "quick, fast", literally quick, ready, adopted as a musical tempo marking for very fast pieces.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1700s presto "a very fast musical tempo", adopted for the very fast tempo, and separately as a magician's exclamation.

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