: a plucked stringed instrument consisting of a resonator, an arched or angled neck that may be supported by a post, and strings of graded length that are strung between the soundboard and the neck
Verb
there were so many good things about the stage production that it seems churlish to harp on a couple of minor missteps
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Noun
Boreyko would also like to test an electric version of the hybrid fog harp.—Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 13 June 2025 Vega and a small faint parallelogram below it are supposed to outline a celestial harp.—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 3 Aug. 2025
Verb
Coach Mario Cristobal always harps that the game begins in the trenches, and the Hurricanes have done their part through recruiting and development to make sure that their offensive line is among the best in the country.—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 28 July 2025 Musk, the world’s richest person, has been harping about the fact that the bill dramatically increases the deficit, citing it on X as his core motivation for his plan to establish a new political party.—Martina Di Licosa, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for harp
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English harpe, going back to Old English hearpe (feminine weak noun), going back to Germanic *harpōn- (whence also Old Saxon harpa "harp, rack, gridiron for torture" Old High German harpha, harfa "harp, gridiron for torture," Old Norse harpa "harp"), of uncertain origin
Note:
As a source for Middle English harpe compare also Anglo-French and continental Old French harpe, borrowed from Germanic. The sixth-century poet and hymnodist Venantius Fortunatus, resident at the Merovingian court, attests the word in Latin: "Romanusque lyra plaudat tibi, barbarus harpa …" ("Let the Roman applaud you with the lyre, the barbarian with the harp …").
Verb
Middle English harpen "to play a harp, pluck" (also harpen on "repeat [something] constantly"), going back to Old English hearpian "to play the harp," derivative of hearpeharp entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of harp was
before the 12th century
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