harpsichord

noun

harp·​si·​chord ˈhärp-si-ˌkȯrd 

: a stringed instrument resembling a grand piano but usually having two keyboards and two or more strings for each note and producing tones by the plucking of strings with plectra

harpsichordist

ˈhärp-si-ˌkȯr-dist 

noun

Examples of harpsichord in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The performances, part of the American Modern Opera Company’s summer residency at Lincoln Center (the Run AMOC Festival), are not quite simultaneous or alternating but instead overlap, with a harpsichord providing the silvery thread between the disparate styles. —Justin Davidson, Vulture, 20 June 2025

The album was orchestrated with instruments that included harpsichords, bicycle bells, and barking dogs. —Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025

Who else could segue fluidly from a dead Vietnamese mother not just to a harpsichord but to a harpsichord-maker with Parkinson’s? —Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 May 2025

Lissette Ryan, another music teacher, plays the harp, cittern, guitar, harpsichord, recorder, crumhorn and hurdy gurdy. —Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

modification of Italian arpicordo, from arpa harp + corda string

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for harpsichord

• checkerboard
• clavichord
• fiberboard
• fibreboard
• fingerboard
• motherboard
• notochord
• overboard
• overlord
• paperboard
• plasterboard
• shuffleboard

Kids Definition

harpsichord

noun

harp·​si·​chord ˈhärp-si-ˌkȯ(ə)rd 

: a keyboard instrument similar to a piano but with strings that are plucked rather than struck