Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

armonica

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.14 in modern English

Syllables
ar-mon-i-ca
IPA
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A musical instrument made of blown-glass bowls mounted on a spindle turned originally by a foot pedal, and played with wetted fingers, producing an ethereal sound. Technically, it is a crystallophone.

Etymology

Coined by Benjamin Franklin, its inventor; built on Italian armonia (“harmony”). Glass harmonica is a corruption of Franklin's original word, a back-formation influenced by harmonica (a reed instrument invented sixty years later).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Music.

Inflected Forms

armonicas (plural)

Derived Forms

armonicist

Synonyms

glass harmonica

Questions

What does armonica mean?
A musical instrument made of blown-glass bowls mounted on a spindle turned originally by a foot pedal, and played with wetted fingers, producing an ethereal sound. Technically, it is a crystallophone.
Where does armonica come from?
It is traced to Italian.

How to pronounce armonica

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “armonica”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “armonica”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “armonica” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.