Spin′et.
（Music.) A small instrument of the harpsichord kind. It had a single wire for each note, and this was vibrated by a quill. The quill was placed in a jack, a vertical piece which was lifted by the key. The keys were arranged as in the modern piano. It probably had catgut strings at first, but afterward had about 30 brass wires for the lower notes and 20 steel ones for the upper. It was used in France as early as A. D. 1515. The illustration q, Plate XL. page 1692, is from Bonanni's “Gabinetto Armonico,” 4to, Rome, 1722. The spinet was always triangular, and occupied a place in point of time between the virginal and the harpsichord. Unlike the former, its strings were strained over a bent bridge, and were struck by quills; and, unlike the latter, it had but a single string to a note. See history of the development of the piano-forte, pages 1690, 1691. Lord Bacon says: “In spinets, as soon as the spine is let fall to touch the string, the sound ceases.” The name was also applied to a supplementary instrument tuned an octave above the harpsichord, and placed on or inside that instrument, in some cases sliding therein like a drawer.
