samisen
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of samisen
1610–20; < Japanese < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese sānxia three-string banjo
Explanation
A samisen is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument that resembles a lute. A samisen, also called a shamisen, has a square, wooden body with three strings. The type of samisen that's played to accompany Kabuki theater has a very long, thin neck. The instrument is often played like a banjo, with a percussive plucking, though it can also be played with a bow like a violin. Samisen is from the Chinese san-hsien, which means "three-strings."
Vocabulary lists containing samisen
Musical Instruments - High School
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"Growing Up Asian in America," Vocabulary from the essay
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 1
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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.
The music underscoring the monologue is both haunting and jarring, and it mixes in sounds from traditional Japanese theater like wooden clappers and samisen, a traditional stringed instrument.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2022
The program includes performances by a samurai group, taiko drummer Toshihiro Yuta, samisen musician Keisho Ohno, and Minyo Crusaders.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2022
Although they were playing a single work together, the sounds you heard — the wheeze of a piccolo, a muffled trumpet, the plucking of a samisen — felt independent.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2017
In the prints, the wakashu are presented as beautiful and desirable, sometimes practicing what were seen at the time as feminine arts like flower-arranging or playing the samisen.
From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2017
He played the three-stringed samisen, which Kiyo and I called his “pinko-pinko.”
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
