spinet

[spin-it]

See more synonyms for spinet on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small upright piano.
a small, square piano.
any of various small harpsichords.

Also called spinet organ. a small electric organ.

Origin of spinet

1655–65; aphetic variant of obsolete espinette < French < Italian spinetta, probably equivalent to spin(a) thorn (see spine) + -etta diminutive suffix; the existence of an instrument-maker named Spinetti is unverified

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for spinet

instrument, keyboard, player, clavier, pianoforte, clavichord, pianola, spinet

Examples from the Web for spinet

Contemporary Examples of spinet

I went into the smoking-room and sat down before the spinet.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014

Historical Examples of spinet

There are two theories as to the origin of the name "spinet."
How the Piano Came to Be
Ellye Howell Glover
There are interesting old books on the virginals, harpsichord, and spinet.
The Book-Hunter at Home
P. B. M. Allan
She had been taking lessons on the spinet, but the painting was a great rival.
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas
Her laugh was sweet and tinkly, like the upper notes of a spinet.
IT and Other Stories
Gouverneur Morris
Now I know it is a spinet I heard humming—I told you about it, mother.
True to His Home
Hezekiah Butterworth

British Dictionary definitions for spinet

spinet

noun

a small type of harpsichord having one manual

Word Origin for spinet

C17: from Italian spinetta, perhaps from Giovanni Spinetti, 16th-century Italian maker of musical instruments and its supposed inventor

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for spinet

1660s, spinette, "small harpsichord," from older French espinette (1520s), from Italian spinetta, said by Scaliger to be a diminutive of spina "thorn, spine," from Latin spina "thorn" (see spine), so called because the strings were plucked with thorn-like quills. The other theory (favored by OED) dates to early 17c. and claims the word is from the name of the Venetian inventor, Giovanni Spinetti (fl. c.1503).