Definition of "cembalo" []

• A harpsichord. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The cembalo was the favorite instrument in Italy during the seventeenth century, and in England it had a great currency under the name of harpsichord."
• "And yes, "cembalo" could at the time refer to a fortepiano as well as to other keyboards."
• "I have given the first place in description to Cristofori's actions, instead of to the "cembalo" or instrument to which they were applied, because piano and forte, from touch, became possible through them, and what else was accomplished by Cristofori was due, primarily, to the dynamic idea."