plectrum
a small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.
Anatomy, Zoology. an anatomical part resembling a plectrum in shape.
Origin of plectrum
1Words Nearby plectrum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use plectrum in a sentence
plectrum, plek′trum, n. the quill or other form of instrument by which the strings of the Greek lyre were struck.
The instrument here introduced is the cittern, played with or without a plectrum or quill.
Chaucer for Children | Mrs. H. R. HaweisIt is ornamented in ebony and ivory, and has a plectrum guard inserted in the belly, as in a modern mandoline.
Mandolines are partly strung with wire, and are played with a plectrum, indispensable for metal or short strings.
He plays as he walks, using both hands, a plectrum being in the right.
British Dictionary definitions for plectrum
/ (ˈplɛktrəm) /
any implement for plucking a string, such as a small piece of plastic, wood, etc, used to strum a guitar, or the quill that plucks the string of a harpsichord
Origin of plectrum
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse