While the musical notation is the most commonly understood meaning of the word, "legato" can also refer to brand names of storage management software, a type of carpeting, an online guitar store, or several other entities.
"Legato" is an Italian word that literally means "tied together."
Achieving legato varies with the type of instrument. Musicians playing stringed instruments play with a full bow. Wind instruments musicians use tonguing techniques and breath control. Successful singing of legato involves the correct constellation of breath pressure, tongue and jaw placement. Practice is key to successful execution of legato technique.
Legato is related to other forms of musical articulation such as staccato, accent, sforzando and rinforzando.
The term legato is also occasionally applied figuratively in English-language literature to evoke the connected, flowing sense of legato music.