violoncello

noun

Etymology: 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).

1. Synonym of cello.

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

   “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.”