clavicembalo

American  

[klav-i-chem-buh-loh] / ˌklæv ɪˈtʃɛm bəˌloʊ /

noun

plural

clavicembali

1. a harpsichord.

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clavicembalo British  

/ ˌklævɪˈtʃɛmbələʊ /

noun

1. another name for harpsichord

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Other Word Forms

• clavicembalist noun

Etymology

Origin of clavicembalo

1730–40; < Italian < Medieval Latin clāvicymbalum, equivalent to Latin clāvi ( s ) key + cymbalum cymbal

Example Sentences

To this group belonged the virginal, or virginals, the clavicembalo, the harpsichord, or clavecin, and the spinet.

From For Every Music Lover A Series of Practical Essays on Music by Moore, Aubertine Woodward

They had organs, lutes, viols, lyres, harps, citherns, horns, and a kind of primitive piano known as the clavichord or the clavicembalo.

From The Age of the Reformation by Smith, Preserved

N. B.—I send my sister, by him, "6 duetti a clavicembalo e violino," by Schuster.

From The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Nohl, Ludwig

These instruments were called bundfrei, “unbound,” in opposition to the clavicembalo, which was called gebunden, or “bound.”

From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by Baltzell, W. J. (Winton James)

The orchestra consisted of one lira doppia, one clavicembalo, one chitarrone and two flutes.

From A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present by Mathews, W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock)