mordent

thumb|upright=1.3|Various mordents

In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental. The term entered English musical terminology at the beginning of the 19th century, from the German and its Italian etymon, , both used in the 18th century to describe this musical figure. The word ultimately is derived .