jews' harp | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

66 entries found.

Old English hearpian "to play on a harp;" see harp (n.). Cognate with Middle Dutch, Dutch harpen, Middle High German harpfen, German harfen. Figurative sense of "talk overmuch" (about something), "dwell exclusively on one subject" first recorded mid-15c. Related: Harped; harping.

harp (n.)

Old English hearpe "harp, stringed musical instrument played with the fingers," from Proto-Germanic *harpon- (source also of Old Saxon harpa "instrument of torture;" Old Norse harpa, Dutch harp, Old High German harpfa, German Harfe "harp") of uncertain origin. Late Latin harpa, source of words in some Romanic languages (Italian arpa, Spanish arpa, French harpe), is a borrowing from Germanic. Meaning "harmonica" is from 1887, short for mouth-harp. The harp seal (1784) is so called for the harp-shaped markings on its back.

arpeggio (n.)

1742, from Italian arpeggio, literally "harping," from arpeggiare "to play upon the harp," from arpa "harp," which is of Germanic origin (see harp (n.)). Related: Arpeggiated (1875); arpeggiation.

harpist (n.)

"one who plays the harp," 1610s, a hybrid from Germanic harp (n.) + Greek -ist.

harper (n.)

Old English hearpere "one who plays the harp," agent noun from harp (v.). As a surname from late 12c. Compare Middle High German harpfære, German Harfner.

harpsichord (n.)

1610s, from French harpechorde "harp string," from Modern Latin harpichordium (source also of Italian arpicordo), from harpa (see harp (n.)) + chorda "string" (see cord). The unexplained, unetymological -s- in the English word is there by 1660s.

psalmody (n.)

"art, act, or practice of singing or composing psalms," mid-14c., from Old French saumodie, psalmodie and directly from Medieval Latin psalmodia, from Greekpsalmōdia "a singing to the harp," from psalmos "song sung to the harp" (see psalm) + odein "to sing" (see ode). Related: Psalmodic.

autoharp (n.)

1882, name on a patent taken out by Charles F. Zimmermann of Philadelphia, U.S.A., for an improved type of harp, an instrument considerably different from the modern autoharp, actually a chord zither, which was invented about the same time by K.A. Gütter of Markneukirchen, Germany, who called it a Volkszither. See auto- + harp (n.).

lyric (adj.)

1580s, "pertaining to or adopted for the lyre or the harp," hence "suggestive of song or musical effect;" see lyric (n.).

Tophet

place near Jerusalem, where, according to the Old Testament, idolatrous Jews made human sacrifice to strange gods; later symbolic of the torments of Hell.

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