mezzo-soprano – female singer with range A3 to F4
moderato – moderately (tempo)
moll (Ger) – minor in German usage
molto – very
morendo – dying away in dynamics and, perhaps also, in tempo.
mosso – (più mosso – faster; meno mosso – slower)
moto – (con molto – quickly)
N
Nicht (Ger) – not
notes inégales (Fr) – playing equal notes long-short (baroque)
O
ossia – alternative specified by footnotes, small notes or on extra staff
ostinato – repeated musical pattern
ottava – octave (octava bassa – an octave lower)
P
Parlando – like speech, annunciated
partitur (Ger) – full orchestral score
pausa – rest
pedale – pedal
perdendosi – dying away
pesante – heavy,
peu à peu (Fr) – little by little
pianissimo (pp) – very soft
piano (p) – soft
piano-vocal score – piano arrangement with parts for voice (= vocal score)
piacevole –pleasantly
più – more
pizzicato – plucked (arco – with the bow)
pochettino – very little
poco – a little
poco à poco – little by little
poi – then (an instruction in a sequence like dim. poi subito forte)
portamento (in singing ) – gliding from one note to another
portamento (in piano playing) – mezzo staccato
prestissimo – extremely fast
presto – very fast
prima volta – the first time
primo, prima – first