recorder

American  

[ri-kawr-der] / rɪˈkɔr dər /

noun

• recorders
  plural

1. a person who records, especially as an official duty.

2. English Law.

   1. a judge in a city or borough court.

   2. (formerly) the legal adviser of a city or borough, with responsibility for keeping a record of legal actions and local customs.

3. a recording or registering apparatus or device.

4. a device for recording sound, images, or data by electrical, magnetic, or optical means.

5. an end-blown flute having a fipple mouthpiece, eight finger holes, and a soft, mellow tone.

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recorder British  

/ rɪˈkɔːdə /

noun

1. a person who records, such as an official or historian

2. something that records, esp an apparatus that provides a permanent record of experiments, etc

3. short for tape recorder

4. music a wind instrument of the flute family, blown through a fipple in the mouth end, having a reedlike quality of tone. There are four usual sizes: bass, tenor, treble, and descant

5. (in England) a barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' standing appointed to sit as a part-time judge in the crown court

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recorder Cultural  

1. A wooden flute played like a whistle. It was popular in the fourteenth through eighteenth centuries. Interest in it has been revived over the past few decades.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recordership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recorders
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of recorder

1275–1325; Middle English recorder wind instrument ( see record, -er ¹), recordour legal official (< Anglo-French recordour, Old French recordeour )

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Explanation

A recorder is a machine that reproduces (or records) sound. A reporter might use a recorder during an interview. A recorder is also often a first musical instrument for kids, who crank out “Hot Cross Buns” at top volume. A digital recorder and the recorder on your cell phone are both examples of electronic recorders. A person whose job involves taking notes or keeping written records during a meeting can also be called a recorder. A now-obsolete meaning of the verb record is "practice a tune," and from this came the 15th century name of the musical instrument called a recorder. These wind instruments are still around, not just in elementary schools.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recorder recorders

That stability suggests γ-Fe could act as a previously unrecognized recorder of magnetic information in lunar material, preserving clues about conditions that existed during the Moon's past.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026

Authorities are also reviewing the SUV’s event data recorder to determine Rios’ speed, braking and acceleration in the seconds before the deadly crash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

He recalled filming himself singing using a VHS recorder as a child.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

Bagdasarian’s father, Ross Bagdasarian Sr., who went by the stage name David Seville, invented the musical trio in 1958 after speeding up his voice to achieve a higher pitch using a $200 tape recorder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

I turned the recorder on and Amari started trying to rap.

From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson

Palo Alto found last year that the vast majority of weakly secured internet-connected devices are webcams and digital video recorders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

Stephen carried a neatly packed bag lined with recorders, headphones and batteries.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

Embarking on expeditions in vast and sometimes dangerous environments, Bigfoot hunters set out with drones, infrared cameras, audio recorders and materials to cast footprints.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

Richard Garstang, a portfolio manager for Oldfield Partners, touted Pason Systems, a Canadian oil services company that makes electronic drilling recorders that sit on rigs and offer real time monitoring.

From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026

It will send the linguists back to India with their tape recorders, because it undermines the critical superstructure of their methodology.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

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