Standard Lemma guide

solfège

name · noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /sɒlˈfɛʒ/
  • /sɒlˈfeɪʒ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʒ
  • rhymes with -ɛʒ

1

noun

Meaning 1

A method of sight singing that uses the syllables do (originally ut), re, mi, fa, sol (or so), la, and si (or ti) to represent the seven principal pitches of the scale, most commonly the major scale. The fixed-do system uses do for C, and the moveable-do system uses do for whatever key the melody uses (thus B is do if the piece is in the key of B). The relative natural minor of a scale may be represented by beginning at la.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French solfège. Doublet of solfeggio.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: صولفيج (ṣūlfīj) — method of sight singing
  • Bulgarian: солфеж (solfež) — method of sight singing
  • Catalan: solfeig — method of sight singing
  • Catalan: solfa — method of sight singing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 唱名 (chàngmíng) — method of sight singing
  • Corsican: solfeghju — method of sight singing
  • Corsican: sulfeghju — method of sight singing
  • Dutch: solfège — method of sight singing
  • Estonian: solfedžo — method of sight singing
  • Finnish: solfeesi — method of sight singing
  • French: solfège — method of sight singing
  • Galician: solfexo — method of sight singing
  • German: Solmisation — method of sight singing
  • German: Solfeggio — method of sight singing
  • German: Solfège — method of sight singing
  • Greek: σολφέζ (solféz) — method of sight singing
  • Hungarian: szolmizálás — method of sight singing
  • Hungarian: szolfézs — method of sight singing
  • Italian: solfeggio — method of sight singing
  • Japanese: ソルフェージュ (sorufēju) — method of sight singing
  • Korean: 솔페주 (solpeju) — method of sight singing
  • Polish: solfeż — method of sight singing
  • Portuguese: solfejo — method of sight singing
  • Russian: сольфе́джио (solʹfédžio) — method of sight singing
  • Sardinian: solfègiu — method of sight singing
  • Serbo-Croatian: солфеђо — method of sight singing
  • Serbo-Croatian: solfeđo — method of sight singing
  • Sicilian: sulfèggiu — method of sight singing
  • Spanish: solfa — method of sight singing
  • Spanish: solfeo — method of sight singing
  • Tamil: சொல்ஃபெஜ் (colfej) — method of sight singing
  • Welsh: solffeuo — method of sight singing