harpsichord
pronunciation
How to pronounce harpsichord in British English:
UK [ˈhɑ:psɪkɔ:d]
How to pronounce harpsichord in American English:
US [ˈhɑrpsɪkɔrd]
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- Noun:
- a clavier with strings that are plucked by plectra mounted on pivots
Word Origin
- harpsichord
- harpsichord: [17] Harpsichord means literally ‘harp-string’. Harp [OE] is a Germanic word. It comes from a prehistoric West and North Germanic *kharpōn, which also produced German harfe, Dutch harp, and Swedish harpa, and was borrowed into the Romance languages via late Latin harpa (its Italian descendant, arpa, gave English arpeggio [18]). When the harpsichord was developed in the late 16th century, it was named in Italian arpicordo, a compound formed with corda ‘string’. English acquired the term via the now obsolete French harpechorde, for some unknown reason inserting an s in the process.=> arpeggio, harp
- harpsichord (n.)
- 1610s, from French harpechorde "harp string," from Modern Latin harpichordium (source also of Italian arpicordo), from harpa (see harp (n.)) + chorda "string" (see cord). The unexplained intrusive -s- in the English word is there by 1660s.
Example
- 1. Jenny was a harpsichord soloist .
- 2. Six fugues or voluntarys for the organ or harpsichord .
- 3. Its forerunners : harpsichord and clavichord .
- 4. And on top of that came the mysteries of performance . Did bach lead from the harpsichord or the violin ?
- 5. Purcell : suites and transcriptions for harpsichord .