Italian for 'playing the harp,' from 'arpa' (harp), from Germanic *harpa — a chord's notes played in succession, named for the harp's sound.
The notes of a chord played in rapid succession, either ascending or descending, rather than simultaneously.
From Italian 'arpeggio,' from 'arpeggiare' (to play the harp), from 'arpa' (harp). The Italian word 'arpa' comes from a Germanic source — Old High German 'harpha' or Frankish *harpa (harp), which was borrowed into the Romance languages because the harp was particularly associated with Germanic and Celtic cultures. The technique of 'playing the harp' — plucking the strings one after another rather than strumming them all at once — became the definition of an arpeggio on any instrument. The harp's own name may ultimately derive from Proto-Germanic *harpō, possibly related to a root meaning 'to pluck.'
The word 'arpeggio' literally means 'to do the harp thing.' Italian 'arpeggiare' means 'to play the harp,' and 'arpeggio' is the noun form — the act of playing notes one after another as a harpist does when plucking strings in sequence. The irony is that the word 'arpa' (harp) in Italian is borrowed from Germanic (*harpa) — because the harp was associated with Germanic and Celtic peoples, not with Italy. So an 'arpeggio' is an Italian musical term built on a Germanic