HARPSICHORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does harpsichord mean? 

• HARPSICHORD (noun)
  The noun HARPSICHORD has 1 sense:

1. a clavier with strings that are plucked by plectra mounted on pivots

  Familiarity information: HARPSICHORD used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HARPSICHORD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A clavier with strings that are plucked by plectra mounted on pivots

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cembalo; harpsichord

Hypernyms ("harpsichord" is a kind of...):

clavier; Klavier (a stringed instrument that has a keyboard)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harpsichord"):

spinet (early model harpsichord with only one string per note)

pair of virginals; virginal (a legless rectangular harpsichord; played (usually by women) in the 16th and 17th centuries)

Derivation:

harpsichordist (someone who plays the harpsichord)

 Context examples 

She put out a hand, with all the fingers going as if she were playing on the harpsichord, and she touched Jim on the shoulder.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My father sent in his name, and there we sat, looking at the white Italian statuettes in the corners, and the picture of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples which hung over the harpsichord.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)