Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An apparatus invented by J. B. Logier in London, about 1810, for training the hands of beginners in pianoforte-playing.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mus.) An instrument to guid the hands and fingers of pupils in playing on the piano, etc.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A device to guide the hands and fingers of pupils in playing the piano, etc.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Ancient Greek formed by hand; hand + to shape.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word chiroplast.
Examples
-
I had, however, no teacher at this time but my aunt Dall, and I suppose the chiroplast may have saved her some trouble, by insuring that my practising, which she could not always superintend, should not be merely
Records of a Girlhood Fanny Kemble 1851
-
As for the horse, his legs stuck through the bridge, as though he had been put in a _chiroplast_, and he went playing away on the water with considerable execution, as if he were accompanying himself in the song which he was squealing at the top of his voice.
Handy Andy, Volume One A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes Samuel Lover 1832
hernesheir commented on the word chiroplast
Cf. finger-gymnasium in the definition of dactylion.
December 15, 2011
willf commented on the word chiroplast
More piano teaching (torture) devices: http://www.entre88teclas.es/fdp/inventos-del-siglo-xix-para-mejorar-la-tecnica-pianistica/
February 4, 2013
ruzuzu commented on the word chiroplast
Sounds like somebody should make a list. I nominate both of you.
February 4, 2013