Bible Encyclopedias
Clavicembalo

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

'CLAVICEMBALO, or GRA'Icembalo (from Lat. clavis, key, and cymbalum, cymbal; Eng. clavicymbal, clavisymbal; Flemish, clavisinbal; Span. clavisinbanos), a keyboard musical instrument with strings plucked by means of small quill or leather plectra. "Cymbal" (Gr. 3aXov, from a5 3n, a hollow vessel) was the old European term for the dulcimer, and hence its place in the formation of the word.

See Pianoforte; Spinet; Virginal.

Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Clavicembalo'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​bri/​c/clavicembalo.html. 1910.