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bassoon

[ ba-soon, buh- ]
/ bæˈsun, bə- /

noun

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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Origin of bassoon

1720–30; <French basson<Italian bassone (bass(o) low (see base2) + -one augmentative suffix)

OTHER WORDS FROM bassoon

bas·soon·ist, noun

Words nearby bassoon

Bassini's operation, bassist, basso, basso cantante, basso continuo, bassoon, basso profundo, basso-relievo, basso rilievo, bass reflex, bass response
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for bassoon

British Dictionary definitions for bassoon

bassoon
/ (bəˈsuːn) /

noun

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
an orchestral musician who plays the bassoon

Derived forms of bassoon

bassoonist, noun

Word Origin for bassoon

C18: from French basson, from Italian bassone, from basso deep; see base ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for bassoon

bassoon

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.