violoncello

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).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌvaɪələnˈtʃɛləʊ/, /ˌviːələnˈtʃɛləʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌvaɪələnˈt͡ʃɛloʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɛləʊ

violoncello (plural violoncellos or violoncelli)

1. Synonym of cello.
   • 2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 110:

     A tentative violoncello is playing, invisible and plaintive, then stops with an asthmatic scrape of catgut.

   • 2016, Fred R. Kline, Leonardo’s Holy Child, Pegasus Books Ltd., →ISBN:

     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.

violoncello n

1. cello, violoncello

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

violoncello m (plural violoncellos)

1. (music) cello, violoncello
2. cellist

From violone (“an early form of the double bass”) +‎ -cello (“-elle”).

• IPA^(key): /vi.o.lonˈt͡ʃɛl.lo/, /vjo.lonˈt͡ʃɛl.lo/^[1][2]
• Rhymes: -ɛllo
• Hyphenation: vi‧o‧lon‧cèl‧lo, vio‧lon‧cèl‧lo

violoncello m (plural violoncelli)

1. cello, violoncello

• → Catalan: violoncel
• → French: violoncelle

violoncello m (plural violoncellos)

1. obsolete spelling of violoncelo

violoncello m (plural violoncellos)

1. alternative form of violonchelo