spinet
[ spin-it ]
/ ˈspɪn ɪt /
noun
a small upright piano.
a small, square piano.
any of various small harpsichords.
Also called spinet organ. a small electric organ.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- spinel,
- spinel ruby,
- spineless,
- spinelessly,
- spinescent,
- spingarn,
- spingarn, joel elias,
- spiniferous,
- spinifex,
- spinmeister
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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for spinet
spinet
/ (spɪˈnɛt, ˈspɪnɪt) /
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
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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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper