||Stac*ca"to (?), a. [It., p. p. of staccere, equivalent to distaccare.
||See Detach.] 1. (Mus.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a
||direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and
||pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy
||accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the
||performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.