harpsichord
[hahrp-si-kawrd]
- a keyboard instrument, precursor of the piano, in which the strings are plucked by leather or quill points connected with the keys, in common use from the 16th to the 18th century, and revived in the 20th.
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Origin of harpsichord
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for harpsichord
Contemporary Examples
Sitting up there at that little spindly-legged organ, he looked enormous, bigger than life, like a gorilla at a harpsichord.
Historical Examples
I am very fond of books and music; my harpsichord was my delight.
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
There are interesting old books on the virginals, harpsichord, and spinet.
The Book-Hunter at HomeP. B. M. Allan
She moved towards the harpsichord and dropped into the chair that served it.
The Lady of Loyalty HouseJustin Huntly McCarthy
Pepusch and Handel played the harpsichord and the organ there.
Sketch of Handel and BeethovenThomas Hanly Ball
He plays the Fiddle well, the Harpsichord well, the Violoncello well.
The ViolinGeorge Hart
harpsichord
- a horizontally strung stringed keyboard instrument, triangular in shape, consisting usually of two manuals controlling various sets of strings plucked by pivoted plectrums mounted on jacks. Some harpsichords have a pedal keyboard and stops by which the tone colour may be varied
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Word Origin
C17: from New Latin harpichordium, from Late Latin harpa harp + Latin chorda chord 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for harpsichord
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
harpsichord
A stringed keyboard instrument much used in the baroque era in music. The keys of a harpsichord move small devices that pluck the strings; the strings are not struck with hammers, as in a piano. Thus, although harpsichords often look much like pianos, their characteristic tinkly sound is unlike that of the piano, and a harpsichordist cannot change the volume of the sound by striking the keys harder, as a pianist can.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.