harp

See also: Harp and härp

English

Etymology

From Middle English harpe, from Old English hearpe (“harp”), from Proto-West Germanic *harpā, from Proto-Germanic *harpǭ (“harp”). Cognate with Scots hairp (“harp”), West Frisian harpe, harp (“harp”), Low German Harp (“harp”), Dutch harp (“harp”), German Harfe (“harp”), Danish harpe (“harp”), Swedish harpa (“harp”).

A woman playing a harp.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /hɑːp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hɑɹp/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)p

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

harp (plural harps)

1. (music) A musical instrument consisting of a body and a curved neck, strung with strings of varying length that are stroked or plucked with the fingers and are vertical to the soundboard when viewed from the end of the body
   • 1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton; J[ohn] S[tow], editor, Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, OCLC 54747393; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, OCLC 731569711, page 290:

     The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge

   1. Any instrument of the same musicological type.
2. (colloquial) A harmonica.
3. (Scotland) A grain sieve.

Hyponyms

• aeolian harp
• angle harp
• angular harp
• arch harp
• autoharp
• bow harp
• claviharp
• electric harp
• frame harp
• French harp
• glass harp
• harp guitar
• harp of David
• harpsichord
• Indian harp
• jaw harp
• Jew's harp
• Judaic harp
• juice harp
• King David's harp
• mouth harp
• open harp
• pillar harp
• sacred harp
• triangular harp
• triple harp
• vibraharp
• wind harp

 

Derived terms

• Harp
• Harper
• harper
• harpist

 

Related terms

• harp seal

Translations

musical instrument

• Albanian: harpë (sq) f, jongan m,
• Arabic: قِيثَارَة‎ f (qīṯāra)

  Egyptian Arabic: هارب‎ m (harb)

• Armenian: տավիղ (hy) (tavił)
• Asturian: arpa f
• Belarusian: а́рфа f (árfa)
• Breton: telenn (br) f
• Bulgarian: а́рфа (bg) f (árfa)
• Burmese: စောင်း (my) (caung:)
• Catalan: arpa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 豎琴, 竖琴 (syu⁶ kam⁴)

  Hakka: 豎琴, 竖琴 (su-khìm)

  Mandarin: 豎琴 (zh), 竖琴 (zh) (shùqín)

  Min Nan: 徛琴 (khiā-khîm)

• Cornish: telyn f
• Czech: harfa (cs) f
• Danish: harpe
• Dutch: harp (nl) f
• Esperanto: harpo
• Estonian: harf (et)
• Faroese: harpa f, hørpa f
• Finnish: harppu (fi)
• French: harpe (fr) f
• Galician: arpa (gl) f
• Georgian: არფა (arpa)
• German: Harfe (de) f
• Greek: άρπα (el) f (árpa)
• Hebrew: נֵבֶל‎ (he)
• Hiligaynon: árpa
• Hindi: वीणा (hi) f (vīṇā)
• Hungarian: hárfa (hu)
• Icelandic: harpa (is)
• Indonesian: harpa (id)
• Irish: cláirseach (ga) f, cruit (ga) f
• Italian: arpa (it) f
• Japanese: ハープ (ja) (hāpu)
• Kalmyk: ятх (yatx)
• Khmer: ពិណ (km) (pɨn)

• Korean: 하프 (ko) (hapeu)
• Kyrgyz: арфа (ky) (arfa)
• Latin: sambuca f, harpa f, psalterium n
• Latvian: arfa f
• Lithuanian: arfa (lt) f
• Low German: Harp
• Macedonian: харфа f (harfa)
• Malagasy: dokanga
• Malay: harpa
• Malayalam: ഹാർപ്പ് (hārppŭ)
• Maori: hāpa, aurau
• Norman: harpe f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: harpe (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: harpe f

• Persian: چنگ‎ (fa) (čang)
• Plautdietsch: Hoap f
• Polish: harfa (pl) f
• Portuguese: harpa (pt) f
• Romanian: harfă (ro) f, harpă (ro) f
• Russian: а́рфа (ru) f (árfa)
• Scottish Gaelic: clàrsach f, troman m, troman-ciùil m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: харфа f

  Roman: harfa (sh) f

• Slovak: harfa f
• Slovene: harfa (sl) f
• Spanish: arpa (es) f, harpa f
• Swahili: kinubi
• Swedish: harpa (sv) c
• Tagalog: alpa (tl)
• Telugu: హార్ప్ (hārp)
• Thai: ฮาร์ป (háap)
• Turkish: arp (tr)
• Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎐𐎗 (knr)
• Ukrainian: а́рфа (uk) f (árfa)
• Urdu: بربط‎
• Uzbek: arfa (uz)
• Vietnamese: thụ cầm, hạc cầm, đàn hạc, đàn harp
• Welsh: telyn (cy) f
• Yiddish: האַרפֿע‎ f (harfe), האַרף‎ m or f (harf)

See also

• lyre

References

• 2013. The Physics of Musical Instruments. Neville H. Fletcher, Thomas Rossing. Pg. 331.

Verb

harp (third-person singular simple present harps, present participle harping, simple past and past participle harped)

1. (usually with on) To repeatedly mention a subject.

   Why do you harp on a single small mistake?

   (US)

   Why do you harp on about a single small mistake?

   (UK)

2. (transitive) To play on (a harp or similar instrument)
3. (transitive) To play (a tune) on the harp.
4. (transitive, archaic) To develop or give expression to by skill and art; to sound forth as from a harp; to hit upon.

   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iv]:

     Thou harped my fear aright.

Synonyms

• keep on about
• perseverate

Translations

to repeatedly mention a subject

• Bulgarian: опявам (bg) (opjavam)
• Dutch: doordrammen (nl)
• Finnish: jankuttaa (fi)
• German: auf (etwas) herumreiten
• Japanese: くどくど言う (kudokudoiu)

• Maori: kunanu
• Swedish: tjata (sv), älta (sv), mala (sv)
• Turkish: ısrarla belirtmek, (bir şeyin) ısrarla üzerinde durmak

Anagrams

• PHAR

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch harpe, from Old Dutch *harpa, from Proto-Germanic *harpǭ.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑrp

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑrp/

Noun

harp f or m (plural harpen, diminutive harpje n)

1. harp

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Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish حرب‎ (harb), borrowed from Arabic حَرْب‎ (ḥarb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɑrp/

Noun

harp (definite accusative harbı, plural harplar)

1. (dated) war

   Synonyms: savaş, cenk

Derived terms

• Büyük Harp
• Cihan Harbi

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Turkmen

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic حَرْف‎ (ḥarf).

Noun

harp (definite accusative harpy, plural harplar)

1. letter (of an alphabet)

Declension

Declension of harp

	singular	plural
nominative	harp	harplar
accusative	harpy	harplary
genitive	harpyň	harplaryň
dative	harpa	harplara
locative	harpda	harplarda
ablative	harpdan	harplardan