harpsichord

English

An Italian harpsichord from 1677.

Alternative forms

• harpsicord (dated)
• musical notation, always capitalized: Cemb., Hpcd., Hpd., Hpsd., Hrpsd.

Etymology

From French harpechorde, from New Latin harpicordium, from harpa (“harp”) + chorda (“string”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑː(ɹ)p.sɪ.kɔː(ɹ)d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹp.sɪˌkɔɹd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

harpsichord (plural harpsichords)

1. (music) A musical instrument with a keyboard that produces sound through a mechanical process. When the performer presses a key, a corresponding plectrum plucks a tuned string. The harpsichord originated in late medieval Europe and is one of the most important instruments used to perform Baroque music.

Derived terms

• harpsichordist
• pedal harpsichord
• lute harpsichord

Translations

musical instrument

• Afrikaans: klavesimbel
• Albanian: klaviçembal m
• Arabic: بِيَانُ القِيثَارِي m (biyānu l-qīṯārī)
• Armenian: կլավիկորդ (hy) (klavikord), կլավեսին (hy) (klavesin)
• Azerbaijani: klavesin
• Belarusian: клавесі́н m (klavjesín)
• Bulgarian: клавеси́н m (klavesín)
• Catalan: clavicèmbal (ca) m, clavecí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大鍵琴 / 大键琴 (zh) (dàjiànqín)

• Czech: cembalo (cs) n
• Danish: cembalo c
• Dutch: klavecimbel (nl)
• Esperanto: klaviceno
• Estonian: klavessiin
• Faroese: kembalo f
• Finnish: cembalo (fi), klavesiini (fi)
• French: clavecin (fr) m
• Friulian: clavicembal m
• Galician: clavicémbalo (gl) m
• Georgian: კლავესინი (ḳlavesini)
• German: Spinett (de) n, Cembalo (de) n
• Greek: τσέμπαλο (el) n (tsémpalo)
• Hebrew: צֶ'מבָּלוֹ (he)
• Hungarian: csembaló (hu)
• Icelandic: semball m
• Ido: klavikordo (io)
• Irish: cruitchlár m
• Italian: clavicembalo (it) m, cembalo (it) m
• Japanese: チェンバロ (ja) (chenbaro), ハープシコード (hāpushikōdo), クラヴサン (kuravusan)
• Korean: 하프시코드 (hapeusikodeu)
• Latin: harpicordium (New Latin)
• Latvian: klavesīns m
• Lithuanian: klavesinas m
• Macedonian: чембало n (čembalo), клавичембало n (klavičembalo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: cembalo

• Occitan: clavecin m
• Persian: هارپسیکورد (hârpsikôrd)
• Polish: klawesyn (pl) m
• Portuguese: cravo (pt) m
• Romanian: clavecin (ro) n
• Russian: клавеси́н (ru) m (klavesín)
• Scottish Gaelic: cruit-chòrda f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: чембало n

  Roman: čembalo (sh) n

• Sicilian: clavicìmmalu m
• Slovak: čembalo
• Slovene: čembalo (sl) m
• Spanish: clavicordio (es); clavicémbalo
• Swedish: cembalo (sv) c
• Thai: ฮาร์ปซิคอร์ด (hâap sí kòt)
• Turkish: klavsen (tr)
• Ukrainian: клавеси́н (uk) m (klavesýn)
• Vietnamese: đàn clavico
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can

See also

• cembalo
• spinet

References

• 1986. A Plain & Easy Introduction to the Harpsichord. Ruth Nurmi. Pg. 15.