embouchure

[ahm-boo-shoo r, ahm-boo-shoo r; French ahn-boo-shyr]

noun, plural em·bou·chures [ahm-boo-shoo rz; ahm-boo-shoo rz; French ahn-boo-shyr] /ˌɑm bʊˈʃʊərz; ˈɑm bʊˌʃʊərz; French ɑ̃ buˈʃür/.

the mouth of a river.

the opening out of a valley into a plain.

Music.

the mouthpiece of a wind instrument.
the adjustment of a player's mouth to such a mouthpiece.

Origin of embouchure

1750–60; < French, equivalent to embouch(er) to put (an instrument) to one's mouth (em- em-¹ + bouche mouth < Latin bucca puffed cheek) + -ure -ure

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for embouchure

Historical Examples of embouchure

Its source and its embouchure were alike unknown to De Soto.
Ferdinand De Soto, The Discoverer of the Mississippi
John S. C. Abbott
The breath is projected into the embouchure with modulated force.
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii
Nathaniel Bright Emerson
It has, from ten to twelve miles above its embouchure into Lake Ontario, one of the finest cataracts in the world.
The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago
John S. C. Abbott
It is still to be seen to the north of the embouchure of the Hellespont.
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07
Various
Carter, describing this latter river from its source to its embouchure, states it to be the Sigila of the Romans.
Excursions in the mountains of Ronda and Granada, with characteristic sketches of the inhabitants of southern Spain, vol. 1/2
Charles Rochfort Scott

British Dictionary definitions for embouchure

embouchure

noun

the mouth of a river or valley

music

the correct application of the lips and tongue in playing a wind instrument
the mouthpiece of a wind instrument

Word Origin for embouchure

C18: from French, from Old French emboucher to put to one's mouth, from bouche mouth, from Latin bucca cheek

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

Word Origin and History for embouchure

1760, in musical sense, from French embouchure "river mouth, mouth of a wind instrument," from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + bouche "mouth" (see bouche).