cembalo

[chem-buh-loh]

noun

Music.

plural

cembali, cembalos 

1. harpsichord.

cembalo

/ ˈtʃɛmbələʊ /

noun

1. another word for harpsichord

Other Word Forms

• cembalist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cembalo¹

1795–1805; < Italian ( clavi ) cembalo < Latin cymbalum cymbal

Word History and Origins

Origin of cembalo¹

C19: shortened from _clavicembalo

Example Sentences

Each singer made his own, which the maestro al cembalo accompanied with a few simple chords.

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The essential distinction between the cembalo and the spinet was in the manner of tone production.

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During the seventeenth century, sonatas were written for various instruments, with a figured bass for the cembalo.

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My view of Cristofori's invention allows me to think that the Estense "piano e forte" may have been a hammer cembalo, a very imperfect one, of course.

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In the cembalo there was a wooden jack resting upon the end of the keys, and upon this jack a little plectrum made of raven's quill, which had to be frequently renewed.

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