
noun Music.
- an elaborate flourish or showy solo passage, sometimes improvised, introduced near the end of an aria or a movement of a concerto.
noun
- a virtuoso solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music, formerly improvised by the soloist but now usually specially composed
- Southern African informal a fit or convulsion
“ornamental passage near the close of a song or solo,” 1836, from Italian cadenza (see cadence).