capriccio

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian capriccio. Doublet of caprice.

noun

1. A sudden and unexpected or fantastic motion; a caper (from same etymology, see below); a gambol; a prank, a trick.
2. A fantastical thing or work.
   If any Man for that reaſon has an Inclination to divert himſelf, and Sail with me round the Globe, to ſuperviſe almoſt all the Conditions of Humane Life, without being infected with the Vanities, and Vices that attend such a Whimſical Perambulation; let him follow me, who am going to Relate it in a Stile, and Language, proper to the Variety of the Subject: For as the Caprichio came Naturally into my Pericranium, I am reſolv’d to purſue it through Thick and Thin, to enlarge my Capacity for a Man of Buſineſs. 1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 10
3. (painting">painting) A type of landscape painting">painting that places particular works of architecture in an unusual setting.
4. (music) A piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character.
   The stillness returned, save for the little voices of the night—the owl's recitative, the capriccio of the crickets, the concerto of the frogs in the grass. 1909, O. Henry, “The Renaissance at Charleroi”, in Roads of Destiny