Meanings
plural violoncellos · plural violoncelli
- Synonym of cello.
A tentative violoncello is playing, invisible and plaintive, then stops with an asthmatic scrape of catgut.
2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 1101 more example
Preserved under the rock-hard amber varnish was a beautifully crafted mythological scene depicting a nude man in a lush landscape playing a violoncello to a rapt audience of peaceful animals, including a jaguar, lion, swan, fox, peacock, horse, parrot, dogs, badger, deer, bull, ostrich, and no less than an elephant coming over the hill to join them.
2016, Fred R. Kline, Leonardo’s Holy Child, Pegasus Books Ltd., →ISBNSynonyms: cello
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of cello.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna large stringed instrument; seated player holds it upright while playing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Italianvioloncello“little violone”
- Englishvioloncello
A borrowing of Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming augmentatives).
More words from Italian
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with violoncello
Cite this entry
violoncello. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/violoncello
“violoncello.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/violoncello. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “violoncello,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/violoncello.
Source: violoncello on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.