Spinet

DEFINITION

A stringed keyboard instrument resembling a harpsichord but with only one manual, and one set of jacks and strings. The spinet is closely related to the virginal, but it is strung diagonally, and is generally wing-shaped rather than square. It is of Italian origin, but was very popular in England in the late 17th century. Early form of harpsichord, on a smaller scale, that was popular between the 16th and 18th-centuries.<br><br>A vertical or upright piano, 36" or 37" in height.