Etymology Clipping of violoncello, the original name, from Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone (“big viola”) itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming augmentatives).
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A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
I haven't always been this cool because I haven't always played guitar. I started out on the cello. Yeah, the cello is a wonderful, beautiful instrument. It's cool to be an adult that plays the cello. Being a kid that played the cello sucked, cause there's no way to be cool when your instrument is larger than you. When you walk to school with a cello you're like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti, man. The bullies just smell you coming from a mile away.2006 Nov. 22, Rob Paravonian, "Pachabel Rant", 00:00:33
And the cello concerto was strikingly different on Sunday: at Weill, the ensemble included two violinists and one violist, cellist, bassist and lutenist, but on Sunday four more violinists, a second violist and a harpsichordist were added to give the ripieno sections of the fast movements a heftier punch than the smaller group delivered.2009 January 20, Allan Kozinn, “Shafts of Sun in Winter From the Italian Baroque”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
1 more example
Fitzgerald saw that Hemingway, oppressed by his mother's influence, was "still rebelling against having been made to take cello lessons when growing up."2020 Aug. 9, Jeffrey Meyers, "Fitzgerald and Hemingway: A Tortured Friendship", The Article
Chocolates arranged in a candy dish or basket, antique or purchased in accordance to^([sic]) the personal taste of the host/hostess, wrapped with cello wrap and tied with a lovely ribbon—decadent!2011, Ava Carroll-Brown, Where Is Your Mother?: