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spinet

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
spin·et  (spnt)
n.
1.
a. A small, compact upright piano.
b. A small, compact upright electronic organ.
2. A small harpsichord with a single keyboard.
[Obsolete French espinette, from Italian spinetta, perhaps diminutive of spna, thorn (presumably so called because the strings of the original instrument were plucked with quills); see spinel.]
spinet [spɪˈnɛt ˈspɪnɪt]
n
(Music / Instruments) a small type of harpsichord having one manual
[from Italian spinetta, perhaps from Giovanni Spinetti, 16th-century Italian maker of musical instruments and its supposed inventor]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.spinetspinet - a small and compactly built upright piano
upright piano, upright - a piano with a vertical sounding board
2.spinet - early model harpsichord with only one string per note
cembalo, harpsichord - a clavier with strings that are plucked by plectra mounted on pivots
Translations
spinet [spɪˈnet] N → espineta f
spinet
n
→ Spinett nt
(US) → Kleinklavier nt


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But this appeared extremely difficult: for the spinet was near sixty feet long, each key being almost a foot wide, so that with my arms extended I could not reach to above five keys, and to press them down required a good smart stroke with my fist, which would be too great a labour, and to no purpose.
Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan View in context
I could not so readily come at playing on the harpsichord or spinet, because I had no instrument of my own to practice on, and could only come at theirs in the intervals when they left it, which was uncertain; but yet I learned tolerably well too, and the young ladies at length got two instruments, that is to say, a harpsichord and a spinet too, and then they taught me themselves.
The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Defoe, Daniel View in context
Cole, I really was ashamed to look at our new grand pianoforte in the drawingroom, while I do not know one note from another, and our little girls, who are but just beginning, perhaps may never make any thing of it; and there is poor Jane Fairfax, who is mistress of music, has not any thing of the nature of an instrument, not even the pitifullest old spinet in the world, to amuse herself with.
Emma by Austen, Jane View in context
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