A harpsichord, an early keyboard instrument that produces sound by plucking strings with mechanical picks rather than striking them.
From Italian cembalo, ultimately from Latin cymbalum meaning cymbal. The name references the instrument's bright, resonant, cymbal-like tone.
The cembalo is basically the mechanical ancestor of the piano—instead of hammers hitting strings, it had tiny picks that plucked them, which is why harpsichord music sounds so delicate and sparkly compared to modern piano.
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