| 释义 |
harpsichord|ˈhɑːpsɪkɔːd|
Also 7 arpsicord, harpsicord, 8 harpsecord.
[ad. obs. F. harpechorde (Cotgr.) = It. arpicordo (Radino 1592, Florio 1598), mod.L. harpichordium (a 1558 in Scaliger Poetics viii), f. L. harpa harp + chorda, It. corda string. The intrusive s, due apparently to some mistake, appears in the earliest English instances.]
A keyboard instrument of music (resembling in appearance the grand piano), in which the strings were plucked and set in vibration by quill or leather points set in jacks connected by levers with the keys. (In use esp. from 16th to 18th c.)
double harpsichord, one having an extra string to each key, sounding an octave higher than the others, and a second keyboard to control the extra strings.
1611Cotgr., Harpechorde, an Arpsicord or Harpsicord; a Dulcimer. 1664Evelyn Diary 5 Oct., There was brought a new-invented instrument of music, being a harpsichord with gut-strings, sounding like a concert of viols with an organ. 1694Phil. Trans. XVIII. 72 In Organs and Harpsicords, where the Notes are fixt, the proper Ascent and Descent cannot be made but only beginning from some Keys. 1766Pennant Zool. (1812) I. 280 The quills of ravens sell for twelve shillings the hundred, being of great use in tuning the lower notes of a harpsichord. 1775Sheridan Duenna ii. iii, Black and white alternately, just like the keys of a harpsichord. 1848Dickens Dombey xxix, She went up stairs to set forth the bird waltz on the harpsichord. 1896Hipkins Hist. Pianoforte 75 The harpsichord is a double, triple—in some instances, quadruple—spinet, the sounds being excited by a jack and quill plectrum, the same as in the spinet or virginal.
b. attrib. and Comb., as harpsichord-lesson, harpsichord-maker, harpsichord-making, harpsichord-master, harpsichord-player, harpsichord-wire, etc.
1772Brydone in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 167, I cut a quantity of harpsichord-wire into short pieces. 1773Barrington Ibid. 266 The harpsichord-tuners find it more difficult to tune these extreme parts. 1789Burney Hist. Mus. IV. 307 Sandoni, a harpsichord-master and composer of some eminence. Ibid. 540 An exquisite harpsichord⁓player. 1876Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. T., Harpsichord graces, certain turns and ornaments employed in playing upon the harpsichord, introduced for the most part as compensation for the lack of sustaining power in the instrument. 1896Hipkins Hist. Pianoforte 79 The palm for excellence in harpsichord-making is due to the famous Ruckers family.
Hence ˈharpsiˌchordist, a harpsichord-player.
1878L. Wingfield Lady Grizel II. xi. 283 The Duke's foreign valet was a neat harpsichordist. |