spinet

noun

spin·​et ˈspi-nət 

 also  spi-ˈnet

1

: an early harpsichord having a single keyboard and only one string for each note

2

a

: a compactly built small upright piano

b

: a small electronic organ

Examples of spinet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the nineteenth century, consumers bought sheet music to play at home, but if a work proved too vast or complex for a parlor spinet, orchestral performances provided the only way to absorb the period’s most crucial art form — and that required a container bigger even than a rich person’s home. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024

In the back of the room is a bar, which is also the kitchen; at the front, just inside a great casement window that fills the front wall, is a spinet piano made of blond wood and confettied with stickers. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024

That’s mixed with a spinet piano that has been treated with tacks in the hammers and has also been detuned a fair amount. —Paul Grein, Billboard, 24 Feb. 2023

An American faux-bamboo-and-pine writing table, an American Victorian spinet writing desk. —Roxana Robinson, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2022

The Kelsey Lu collab builds off a melancholy harpsichord melody, originally recorded by pianist Chilly Gonzalez on a spinet. —Katie Bain, Billboard, 19 Mar. 2021

Your desk dates from around 1925 and gets its name from the design resemblance to spinet harpsicords and pianos. —oregonlive, 3 Jan. 2020

Manilow learned to play the accordion, and then a cheap spinet piano. —Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 5 Aug. 2019

The Calligraphie Florale cuff is striking both for its composition in white gold, white and brownish diamonds, pink sapphires, black spinets, and tsavorite garnets as for its handling of negative space. —Vogue, 28 June 2018

Word History

Etymology

Italian spinetta, perhaps from diminutive of spina thorn, from Latin; from the manner of plucking its strings

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for spinet

• binet
• linnet
• minute
• pinot
• bassinet

Kids Definition

spinet

noun

spin·​et ˈspin-ət 

: a low piano built with the strings running up and down