Word of the week: It’s a particularly ornate member of the baroque-period viol family, distinguished by six or seven strings with matching sympathetic vibrating lower strings and an intricately carved head often featuring Cupid blindfolded to represent the travails of love
Read moreWord of the week: rondo, rondeau, roundel and round
Word of the week: What comes around … this week's rather shapely word circles culture in many directions – from medieval French poetry to a 17th-century musical form all the way to modern slang on sport stars to derogatory cars
Read moreWord of the week: carillon
Word of the week: The bells! The bells! Struck by metal clappers connected to baton keys, this beautiful sounding word – and a-peeling historic instrument – comprises, by definition, a minimum of 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells played melodically or in chords
Read moreWord of the week: panatella
Word of the week: It’s a long, slender cigar, derived from the Spanish panatela, for a long thin biscuit, and the Italian panatello for small loaf, but where does it appear in songs, and also a famous set of TV advertisements?
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