bassoon

American  

[ba-soon, buh-] / bæˈsun, bə- /

noun

1. a large woodwind instrument of low range, with a doubled tube and a curved metal crook to which a double reed is attached.

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bassoon British  

/ bəˈsuːn /

noun

1. a woodwind instrument, the tenor of the oboe family. Range: about three and a half octaves upwards from the B flat below the bass staff

2. an orchestral musician who plays the bassoon

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bassoon Cultural  

1. The second largest and second lowest pitched of the woodwinds. (The less common contrabassoon is larger and has a lower pitch.) It is played with a double reed.

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Other Word Forms

• bassoonist noun

Etymology

Origin of bassoon

1720–30; < French basson < Italian bassone ( bass ( o ) low ( base ² ) + -one augmentative suffix)

Explanation

A bassoon is a musical instrument with a low, rich tone. A bassoon is like a deep, bass version of an oboe. In the category of woodwind instruments, which have reeds that rest on the musician's lips as she plays, the bassoon is the deepest-sounding. You will probably hear at least one bassoon if you attend a band or orchestral concert. The word bassoon comes from the 17th century French basson, sharing a Latin root with bass — bassus, or "low."

Example Sentences

In addition to being named Orson, the lad has chronic gastrointestinal distress and plays the bassoon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

The brass and winds would have benefited from being placed on risers, giving more acoustical and theatrical freedom to the stunning, mournful bassoon solos and abandoned brass outbursts.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2023

But it was still marred by a muddled Infernal Dance, for example, and an overly tentative bassoon solo at the start of the “Rite.”

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2023

A daughter of musical parents, soprano Christiane Stutzmann and bass Christian Dupuy, Nathalie learned piano when she was young, then cello and bassoon.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2023

It was a not unbewitching sound, a mix of flute and bassoon, my consonants slightly slurred, a rush and breathiness to most of my pronouncements.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides