Caccia
/ˈkat.tʃa/noun
An Italian word meaning “hunt,” also used for a medieval and Renaissance musical composition depicting a chase or hunting scene.
Did you know?In a musical caccia, one voice canonically “chases” another, often imitating hunting horns, cries, barking dogs, or shouted commands.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kap-
“To seize, grasp, or take hold of”
Classical Latin
Latin
capere
“To take, seize, capture, or catch”
Classical Latin
Latin
captare
“To try repeatedly to seize; to pursue or hunt”
Late Latin
Vulgar Latin
*captiare
“To chase or hunt; a later form that developed from captare”
Medieval Italian
Old Italian
cacciare
“To hunt, drive away, or chase”
14th Century
Italian
caccia
“A hunt; also a polyphonic song in which musical voices chase one another”