clavicytherium

American  

[klav-uh-sahy-theer-ee-uhm] / ˌklæv ə saɪˈθɪər i əm /

noun

• clavicytheria
  plural

1. an upright harpsichord.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• clavicytheria
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clavicytherium

1505–15; clavi- < Medieval Latin clāvis key + cytherium, for Latin citara kithara

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clavicytherium clavicytheria

The first stringed instrument to which this new device was applied was the clavicytherium, or keyed cithara.

From How the Piano Came to Be by Glover, Ellye Howell

The invention of keys permitted the strings to be covered over, and therefore the strings of the clavicytherium were enclosed in a box, instead of being stretched on a box.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. by Various

In the clavicytherium at the Smithsonian Institution the plectra nearest the keyboard points to the player's left.

From Italian Harpsichord-Building in the 16th and 17th Centuries by Shortridge, John D.

Sebastian Virdung,2 writing early in the 16th century, describes the clavicytherium as a new invention, having gut strings, and gives an illustration of it.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

The vibrating strings of the clavicytherium in the Kraus Museum are stretched horizontally over two kinds of psalteries fixed one over the other.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

The clavichord and manichord, which we read of in Mozart's letters, were only improved and better-made clavicytheria.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. by Various

Two clavicytheria having two registers of strings and a single row of double tongue jacks have been examined by the author.

From Italian Harpsichord-Building in the 16th and 17th Centuries by Shortridge, John D.