sackbut

American  

[sak-buht] / ˈsækˌbʌt /

noun

1. a medieval form of the trombone.

2. Bible. an ancient stringed musical instrument. Daniel 3.

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sackbut British  

/ ˈsækˌbʌt /

noun

1. a medieval form of trombone

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Etymology

Origin of sackbut

First recorded in 1530–40; Early Modern English sagbut, sagbot, sagbout, from Middle French saquebute, from Old North French saqueboute, saquebot(t)e originally, a kind of hooked lance, equivalent to saquier “to pull” + (possibly) bouter “to push”; see origin at saccade, butt ³

Example Sentences

This will not be Monteverdi as we have heard him; there will be nary a period instrument in sight, neither a harpsichord nor a sackbut, a theorbo nor a cornett.

From New York Times • Jul. 22, 2023

Tinselled fantasy is shrewdly banished; putty-coloured, sullen fairies slouch along to the hoots and rustles, sackbut and curtal of Claire van Kampen's eerie music.

From The Guardian • Jun. 8, 2013

And Dietmar Küblböck matched him beautifully on an antique trombone, playing with a power and bite that left the instrument’s immediate ancestor, the sackbut, a distant memory.

From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2011

He could play the sackbut and he sang, in a voice not very even, but bright and moving, the songs of the trouv�res.

From Time Magazine Archive

Would any of those poor creatures have been the better for your knowing “How many notes a sackbut has, Or whether shawms have strings,” or the Greek particles, which I believe were what sacked you?”

From The Three Brides by Yonge, Charlotte Mary