cabaletta

/kæbəˈlɛtə/

Etymology

An Italian variant of coboletta, diminutive of cobola (“stanza, couplet”), from Old Occitan cobla, from Latin copula. Doublet of couplet.

noun

  1. A short, rhythmically repetitive aria.“1980, to bring the proceedings to an end and enable him to perform his salvatory mission, he swung into a cabaletta which summed up the argument against Arius — Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers”