ocarina

American  

[ok-uh-ree-nuh] / ˌɒk əˈri nə /

noun

• ocarinas
  plural

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

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ocarina British  

/ ˌɒkəˈriːnə /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ocarinist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ocarinas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ocarina

First recorded in 1875–80; from Italian, originally dialect (Emilia), diminutive of oca “goose” (from Late Latin auca, contraction of unattested avica, derivative of Latin avis “bird”), so called from the instrument's shape; apparently the name given to it by Giuseppe Donati (1836–1925) of Budrio, near Bologna, who popularized a ceramic version c1860

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ocarina ocarinas

What was Morricone thinking, you may wonder, when he introduced the whistle of an ocarina, or joined it to the portentous chants of a choir?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2020

First you hear the galloping of a horse, joined by soft minor-key piano and melancholy, soaring ocarina notes as a young man in a green tunic rides under the setting moon.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 11, 2018

He told us to choose an ocarina from a box he passed around.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 31, 2014

Despite its aura, the drum looks modest and meek surrounded by cabinets chockablock with bassoons and oboes, cornets and bugles, not to mention the odd oliphant, ocarina and shofar.

From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2010

"Dear Frederica, Dick will leave all religious things to you, I know—" warbled Lady Isabel, in her gentle, musical voice, that suggested something between the tones of a wood pigeon and an ocarina.

From Mount Music by Martin Ross

Of course there’s comfort in the familiar, in the oboes or ocarinas of the ordinary world, in its violins and shamisens and diddley bows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Tara Helen O’Connor and Rane Moore puffed through primitive ocarinas and twittered almost inaudibly on nano-tonal mouth organs: blocky clusters of dog whistles, invented by Mr. Adán.

From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2012

Since Pearl Harbor, sales of plastic ocarinas have skyrocketed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The very finest ocarinas were manufactured from the mud of the beautiful blue Danube.

From Time Magazine Archive