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.

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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

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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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recordership
  noun

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

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

From Slate • May 24, 2026

Later, recorder on, I asked my father about the country he left behind when he swam onto the crystal shores of the American Base at Guantanamo Bay.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

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

From Science Daily • May 9, 2026

Findings from the flight data recorder showed that "while cruising at 29,000 ft, the fuel switches on both engines moved from the run position to the cutoff position."

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

She said no, she’d be doing interviews and taping speeches—but he could come along and hold her tape recorder.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

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