cello
/ˈt͡ʃɛloʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.29 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
Example Sentences
- "I haven't always been this cool because I haven't always played guitar. I started out on the cello. Yeah, the cello is a wonderful, beautiful instrument. It's cool to be an adult that plays the cello. Being a kid that played the cello sucked, cause there's no way to be cool when your instrument is larger than you. When you walk to school with a cello you're like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti, man. The bullies just smell you coming from a mile away."
- "And the cello concerto was strikingly different on Sunday: at Weill, the ensemble included two violinists and one violist, cellist, bassist and lutenist, but on Sunday four more violinists, a second violist and a harpsichordist were added to give the ripieno sections of the fast movements a heftier punch than the smaller group delivered."
- "Fitzgerald saw that Hemingway, oppressed by his mother's influence, was "still rebelling against having been made to take cello lessons when growing up.""
- "Chocolates arranged in a candy dish or basket, antique or purchased in accordance to^([sic]) the personal taste of the host/hostess, wrapped with cello wrap and tied with a lovely ribbon—decadent!"
Etymology
Clipping of violoncello, the original name, from Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone (“big viola”) itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming augmentatives).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈt͡ʃɛloʊ/
- British English: /ˈtʃɛləʊ/