Crescendo, in Music, means a gradual increasing of sound, or changing from piano to forte and fortissimo. It is marked thus , or with the abbreviation cresc. The converse is decrescendo. The swell of a good organ produces a most perfect crescendo.
Crescendo
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 557
Source scan(s): p. 0568