C17: from Italian spinetta, perhaps from Giovanni Spinetti, 16th-century Italian maker of musical instruments and its supposed inventor
spinet in American English
(ˈspɪnɪt; spɪˈnɛt)
noun
1.
an early, small variety of harpsichord with a single keyboard
2.
a.
a small upright piano of relatively low height
b.
a small electronic organ of similar design
Word origin
MFr espinete < It spinetta, said to be after its alleged inventor, G. Spinetti, but prob. < spina, thorn (< L, spine): so named from the pointed quills used to strike the strings
Examples of 'spinet' in a sentence
spinet
"She sighed and shut the spinet, dusting the gold off her fingers.