ocarina

[ok-uh-ree-nuh]

noun

a simple musical wind instrument shaped somewhat like an elongated egg with a mouthpiece and finger holes.

Origin of ocarina

< Italian, orig. dial. (Emilia), diminutive of oca goose (< Late Latin auca, contraction of *avica, derivative of Latin avis bird), so called from the instrument's shape; apparently the name given to it by Giuseppe Donati of Budrio, near Bologna, who popularized a ceramic version c1860

Also called sweet potato.

Related formsoc·a·ri·nist, noun

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

Examples from the Web for ocarina

Contemporary Examples of ocarina

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, considered by some to be the best game of all time, was remade for the 3DS in 2011.
Video Games Go Wild for Reboots
Alec Kubas-Meyer
July 6, 2014

Historical Examples of ocarina

Ma'am, if you never do, at least remember that the flute was an ocarina.
The Dop Doctor
Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
Im a-goin south from here to give a Chinese lady a lesson on the ocarina.
Dust of the Desert
Robert Welles Ritchie
The neighbouring forest was soon echoing the strident notes of xylophone, banjo, ocarina and trombone.
Indo-China and Its Primitive People
Henry Baudesson
Treatises upon the violin are fairly numerous; but I do not remember having come across many works on the Jew's harp or ocarina.
The Book-Hunter at Home
P. B. M. Allan

British Dictionary definitions for ocarina

ocarina

noun

an egg-shaped wind instrument with a protruding mouthpiece and six to eight finger holes, producing an almost pure toneAlso called (US informal): sweet potato

Word Origin for ocarina

C19: from Italian: little goose, from oca goose, ultimately from Latin avis bird

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 ocarina

1877, from Italian ocarina, diminutive of oca "goose" (so called for its shape), from Vulgar Latin *auca, from Latin avicula "small bird," diminutive of avis "bird" (see aviary).