Concertina

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˌkɒnsəˈtiːnə/

Definitions

1. A musical instrument characterized by bellows that operate to produce sound, a folding device used to create pleats in materials, and a form that resembles mechanisms with expanding and contracting features
2. This instrument generates music through its bellows, it serves to pleat textiles or paper, and it takes on a structure that can change in size similar to this instrument
3. A type of musical device that uses bellows to create sound, a tool employed for folding materials into pleats, and an object that features a mechanism permitting expansion and contraction

Etymology: The concertina was invented in 1829 by Sir Charles Wheatstone, the English physicist better known for his work on telegraphy, and he gave it a name that combined the word "concert" with the Italian suffix "-ina," which forms diminutives and names small objects. Wheatstone's invention was a small hexagonal box with bellows and buttons, built to bring a portable instrument to performers and sailors alike. The suffix is the surprising part. Words ending in "-ina" in Italian often name small things, so the name suggests a little concert in a box, a portable ensemble that one person could play. The instrument's name thus links it directly to the idea of performance, even though its design came from a physicist's workshop rather than a musician's.

Synonyms: accordion, squeezebox, melodeon, organetto, bandoneon