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Synonyms

recorder

American  
[ri-kawr-der] / rɪˈkɔr dər /

noun

  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

"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
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

  • recordership noun

Etymology

Origin of recorder

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

The report will typically draw on information gleaned from examination of the crash site, for example, as well as basic material downloaded from the flight data recorder.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

Investigators said they had located the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, or so-called black boxes, and would be taking the devices to Washington, D.C., for analysis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025

“Kissinger” teases viewers with an animated credit sequence prominently featuring a tape recorder.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025

I’ve pulled the voice recorder from my closet and have it sitting on the middle of my bed now.

From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson

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.