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violoncello

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

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noun, plural vi·o·lon·cel·los.

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

n.

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

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper