violoncello
/ˌvaɪələnˈtʃɛləʊ/
violoncello means synonym of cello. It carries an Arena rating of 1569, earned across 21 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, violoncello ranks #712 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,951 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,610 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,518 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
violoncello is pronounced /ˌvaɪələnˈtʃɛləʊ/.
Why “violoncello” is a great word
A bass instrument of the violin family, held between the knees and played with a bow. Its name, from Italian violoncello, a diminutive of violone ('bass viol'), itself from viola ('viol') + -one ('-oon', forming augmentatives) + -cello ('-elle', forming diminutives), thus literally 'little large viola,' encodes its lineage as a linguistic paradox. Unlike the viola da gamba, its fretted, softer-voiced precursor, or the violone, the cumbersome, foundational bass from which it is nominally cut down, the violoncello is a perfected compromise. It is the deep, resonant sigh of seasoned wood under a taut bow; the visceral thrum felt in the ribs as much as heard; the human voice speaking in the register of shadows and earth. An instrument of profound solitude, it sings most eloquently of what is held close and unspoken.
Etymology
A borrowing of Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming augmentatives).
noun
- Synonym of cello.e.g.“A tentative violoncello is playing, invisible and plaintive, then stops with an asthmatic scrape of catgut.” — 2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 110:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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