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sackbut

American  
[sak-buht] / ˈsækˌbʌt /

noun

  1. a medieval form of the trombone.

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


sackbut British  
/ ˈsækˌbʌt /

noun

  1. a medieval form of trombone

"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

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

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

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

A fascinating col lection of sacred and profane music by nine little-known Italian composers of the 16th and early 17th centuries, performed on such authentic instruments as sackbut, recorder and shawm.

From Time Magazine Archive

Shumakim: A statesman that has dropped his mask and cracked his sackbut.

From The Poems of Henry Van Dyke by Van Dyke, Henry

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