What does cembalo mean?
A cembalo is a harpsichord — the plucked-string keyboard instrument that dominated European art music from roughly the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. The word comes from Italian, where it developed from earlier forms referring to a dulcimer-like instrument, and it entered English largely through musicians and scholars who read Italian and German scores. In practice, English speakers encounter "cembalo" mainly on concert programs and in academic writing about Baroque repertoire: a Bach concerto may be listed as being performed "on the cembalo," and continuo parts are often described as being realized at the cembalo. It carries a slightly learned, period-conscious flavor compared with the everyday word "harpsichord," and it should not be confused with the celesta (a bell-toned struck instrument) or with the cymbal, a percussion instrument that shares only a distant linguistic ancestor. The standard English plural is cembali, following the Italian pattern.
nounA cembalo is a harpsichord, especially in Italian and German musical usage; the term is chiefly used in English in discussions of Baroque keyboard music.
- A harpsichord, especially as referred to in scores or writings about Baroque music (from Italian cembalo).
"The ensemble performed the Bach concerto on a cembalo rather than a modern piano."
"The continuo part was realized on the cembalo by the ensemble's director."
"Her doctoral thesis examined ornamentation practices in cembalo music of the early eighteenth century."
The plural follows the Italian pattern; "cembalos" is rare and generally avoided in formal writing.
"The museum's collection includes several restored cembali from the seventeenth century."
"Cembalo" is just Italian for harpsichord — so every time you hear a Bach concerto announced "per il cembalo," you're hearing the same word that gave us "cymbal."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cembalo
The word "cembalo" derives from Italian, where it is a shortened form of "gravicembalo," itself from Latin "cymbalum," meaning cymbal, ultimately from Greek "kymbalon." The term originally referred to a hammered dulcimer-type instrument and came to designate the harpsichord. Its Greek root also underlies the English words "cymbal" and "timbrel," making these distant cognates. The word spread into German musical terminology as "Cembalo" and thence into English usage among performers and scholars of early music.
Related word forms
How cembalo is actually used
The word is a specialist term, used mainly by musicians, musicologists, and program-note writers. It appears most often when quoting Italian or German sources (German usage often shortens it to "Cembalo") and lends a scholarly or period-informed tone; "harpsichord" is the ordinary English word.
Easily confused with cembalo
A celesta is a small struck keyboard instrument with a bell-like tone, whereas a cembalo is a harpsichord whose strings are plucked.
A cymbal is a percussion disc that is struck, while a cembalo is a plucked string keyboard instrument; the two words share an ancient root but mean entirely different instruments.