violoncello

[vee-uh-luh n-chel-oh, vahy-]

noun, plural vi·o·lon·cel·los.

cello¹.

Origin of violoncello

1715–25; < Italian, equivalent to violon(e) violone + -cello diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for violoncello

Historical Examples of violoncello

Old Brunken was in the music-room, playing to himself upon the violoncello.
The First Violin
Jessie Fothergill
I will order a carriage for them, and they will take charge of your violoncello.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
A Violoncello by Nicholas Amati, with case and bow, £17 17s.
The Violin
George Hart
He plays the Fiddle well, the Harpsichord well, the Violoncello well.
The Violin
George Hart
They have also a kind of clarinet, three or four different sorts of trumpets, and a stringed instrument not unlike a violoncello.
Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton
John Barrow

British Dictionary definitions for violoncello

violoncello

noun plural -los

the full name for cello

Derived Formsvioloncellist, noun

Word Origin for violoncello

C18: from Italian, from violone + -cello, diminutive suffix

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 violoncello

1724, from Italian violoncello, diminutive of violone "bass viol," augmentative of viola (see viola).