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 Modern Latin harpicordium, from harpa (“harp”) + corda (“string”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

harpsichord (plural harpsichords)

(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. Harpsichords 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 (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 (hârpsikōrd)
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

References

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