armonica

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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.

Similar
glass harmonica
OriginItalian armonia →
RareScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounarmonica (plural armonicas)

plural armonicas

  1. 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.

    Synonyms: glass harmonica

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA 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.

Similar
glass harmonica
Also see
glass harmonica

Origin

  1. Italianarmonia“harmony”
  2. Englisharmonica

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).

More words from Italian

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

macaroniMarcianomarocain
Cite this entry
APA

armonica. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armonica

MLA

“armonica.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armonica. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “armonica,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armonica.

Source: armonica on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.