CLARINET or CLARIONET (Fr. Clarinette, Ger. Klarinette, Ital. Clarinette). An instrument of 4-foot tone, with a single reed and smooth quality, commonly said to have been invented about the year 1690, by Johann Christopher Denner, at Nuremberg. Mr. W. Chappell is however of opinion that he can trace the instrument back to mediæval times as the shawm, schalm, or schalmuse (Hist. of Music, i. 264).
The present name, in both forms, is evidently a diminutive of Clarino, the Italian for trumpet,...