mbila
American
[uhm-bee-luh]
/ əmˈbi lə /
Older Use,
ambira
noun
-
a xylophone of southern African origin having graduated wooden keys, traditionally attached to hollow gourd resonators, and played with rubber-headed mallets, often in a group.
Etymology
Origin of mbila
First recorded in 1925–30; from Venda (Bantu language of the Transvaal and Zimbabwe); cf. mbira ( def. )
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
