recorder

American  

[ri-kawr-der] / rɪˈkɔr dər /

noun

recorders plural

1. a person who records, especially as an official duty.

2. English Law.

   1. a judge in a city or borough court.

   2. (formerly) the legal adviser of a city or borough, with responsibility for keeping a record of legal actions and local customs.

3. a recording or registering apparatus or device.

4. a device for recording sound, images, or data by electrical, magnetic, or optical means.

5. an end-blown flute having a fipple mouthpiece, eight finger holes, and a soft, mellow tone.

---

recorder British  

/ rɪˈkɔːdə /

noun

1. a person who records, such as an official or historian

2. something that records, esp an apparatus that provides a permanent record of experiments, etc

3. short for tape recorder

4. music a wind instrument of the flute family, blown through a fipple in the mouth end, having a reedlike quality of tone. There are four usual sizes: bass, tenor, treble, and descant

5. (in England) a barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' standing appointed to sit as a part-time judge in the crown court

---

recorder Cultural  

1. A wooden flute played like a whistle. It was popular in the fourteenth through eighteenth centuries. Interest in it has been revived over the past few decades.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recordership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recorders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of recorder

1275–1325; Middle English recorder wind instrument ( see record, -er ¹), recordour legal official (< Anglo-French recordour, Old French recordeour )

Explanation

A recorder is a machine that reproduces (or records) sound. A reporter might use a recorder during an interview. A recorder is also often a first musical instrument for kids, who crank out “Hot Cross Buns” at top volume. A digital recorder and the recorder on your cell phone are both examples of electronic recorders. A person whose job involves taking notes or keeping written records during a meeting can also be called a recorder. A now-obsolete meaning of the verb record is "practice a tune," and from this came the 15th century name of the musical instrument called a recorder. These wind instruments are still around, not just in elementary schools.

Example Sentences

Instead, the flight data recorder may have captured an electronic fuel-cutoff command rather than a mechanical switch movement.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026

Walking and typing is dangerous, but walking and talking like a maniac into my own recorder is merely antisocial.

From Slate • May 24, 2026

Each animal was equipped with a waterproof heart rate monitor, dive recorder, and radio transmitter.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

Turkish authorities found the cockpit voice recorder and black box from a private jet that crashed Wednesday killing the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides.

From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025

He stared at the voice recorder for a long time.

From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson

Related Words

• agent
• auditor
• bookkeeper
• cashier
• employee
• operator
• receptionist
• salesperson
• secretary
• teller
• worker