clavicytheria

alternative clavicitheria

1. pluralplural of clavicytherium.

   Clavicytheria, or upright harpsichords, were also made in Italy. Although they probably were built almost everywhere, the evidence of the extant instruments indicates that they were more common here than elsewhere.

   1978, Edward L[eon] Kottick, “A Short History of the Harpsichord”, in The Harpsichord Owner’s Guide: A Manual for Buyers and Owners, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, published 1992, →ISBN, page 34, column 3

   1 more example

   [W]e find indications of a keyed instrument after the year 1300, called the Clavicytherium, or keyed cithara. […] The clavichord and manichord, which we read of in [Wolfgang Amadeus] Mozart's letters, were only improved and better-made clavicytheria.

   1867 July, “The Piano in the United States”, in The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XX, number CXVII, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, 124 Tremont Street, →OCLC, page 86, column 1