sambuca

¹

[sam-byoo-kuh]

noun

Also sam·buke [sam-byook] /ˈsæm byuk/. an ancient stringed musical instrument used in Greece and the Near East.
a medieval hurdy-gurdy.

Origin of sambuca

¹

1350–1400; Middle English sambuke < Latin sambūca < Greek sambȳ́kē perhaps < Semitic; compare Aramaic sabbəkhā

sambuca

²

[sam-boo-kuh; Italian sahm-boo-kah]

noun

a licorice-flavored Italian liqueur made from elderberries.

Origin of sambuca

²

1970–75; < Italian, feminine derivative of sambuco elder < Latin sa(m)būcus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sambuca

Historical Examples of sambuca

A man with a table, Sambuca and Acqua-vita bottles on it, and wee glasses, one cent a drink: melodrama.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 1 January 1863
Various
The sambuca seems to have been a large harp, which rested on the ground, like the harps of the Egyptians.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 4. (of 7): Babylon
George Rawlinson
Among them are the Psaltery of various shapes, the Sambuca or sackbut, the single and double Chorus, &c.
Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages
Edward Lewes Cutts

Word Origin and History for sambuca

n.

Italian liqueur resembling anisette, 1971, from Italian, from Latin sambucus "elder tree."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper