sackbut
- a medieval form of the trombone.
- Bible. an ancient stringed musical instrument. Dan. 3.
Origin of sackbut
Examples from the Web for sackbut
Historical Examples
At last one day he remembered the walnut which Sackbut had given him.
The Blue Rose Fairy BookMaurice Baring
But she recovered rapidly after her marriage, her eyes grew brighter, we saw less of Sackbut's "delicious skeleton."
Certain Personal MattersH. G. Wells
He can play any musical instrument from a sackbut to a Jew's harp, and speak any language from Czech to Choctaw.
The Sixth SenseStephen McKenna
Among them are the Psaltery of various shapes, the Sambuca or sackbut, the single and double Chorus, &c.
Scenes and Characters of the Middle AgesEdward Lewes Cutts
In one place he is merely called a Minstrel, but in the other he is specifically described as a Sackbut.
The Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII from November MDXXIX, to December MDXXXIINicholas Harris Nicolas
sackbut
- a medieval form of trombone
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for sackbut
n.
medieval wind instrument, c.1500, from French saquebute, a bass trumpet with a slide like a trombone; presumably identical with Old North French saqueboute (14c.), "a lance with an iron hook for pulling down mounted men," said to be from Old North French saquier "to pull, draw" + bouter "to thrust," from Germanic *buton (see butt (v.)). Originally in English with many variant spellings, including sagbutt, shakbott, shagbush.
In Dan. iii:5, used wrongly to translate Aramaic sabbekha, name of a stringed instrument (translated correctly in Septuagint as sambuke, and in Vulgate as sambuca, both names of stringed instruments, and probably ultimately cognate with the Aramaic word). The error began with Coverdale (1535), who evidently thought it was a wind instrument and rendered it with shawm; the Geneva translators, evidently following Coverdale, chose sackbut because it sounded like the original Aramaic word, and this was followed in KJV and Revised versions.