dulcimer

[ duhl-suh-mer ]

noun

Also called hammered dulcimer, hammer dulcimer . a trapezoidal zither with metal strings that are struck with light hammers.
Appalachian dulcimer.

Origin of dulcimer

First recorded in 1560–70; alteration of Middle English dowcemere, from Middle French doulcemer, dissimilated variant of doulcemele, from Old Italian dolcimelo, dolzemele, from Latin dulce melos “sweet song”; see dulcet, melic

Words Nearby dulcimer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dulcimer in a sentence

In his introduction Wolcott admits to “going soft” lately, to “becoming a more loving, caring, dulcimer-strumming individual.”
The Obligation to be Interesting: James Wolcott’s “Critical Mass” | William Giraldi | October 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
You'll hear a marimba and dulcimer every so often in this crescendoing collection of stellar four-part harmonies.
10 Great Bands You’ve Never Heard | Winston Ross | May 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
From the cartoon: the figure playing the dulcimer is underneath the manger, above which is seated the Virgin and Child.
Stained Glass Work | C. W. Whall
An Italian dulcimer of wood carved and gilt, dating from the seventeenth century.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2) | Carl Engel
Koto, a kind of dulcimer, from Japan, with silken strings and movable bridges.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2) | Carl Engel

Yang-kin, Chinese dulcimer, with two little sticks or wooden hammers of a rather peculiar shape.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2) | Carl Engel
He carries a silverstringed inlaid dulcimer and a longstemmed bamboo Jacob's pipe, its clay bowl fashioned as a female head.
Ulysses | James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for dulcimer

dulcimer

/ (ˈdʌlsɪmə) /

nounmusic

a tuned percussion instrument consisting of a set of strings of graduated length stretched over a sounding board and struck with a pair of hammers
an instrument used in US folk music, consisting of an elliptical body, a fretted fingerboard, and usually three strings plucked with a goose quill

Origin of dulcimer

C15: from Old French doulcemer, from Old Italian dolcimelo, from dolce sweet, from Latin dulcis + -melo, perhaps from Greek melos song

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

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