shawm

American  

[shawm] / ʃɔm /

noun

1. an early musical woodwind instrument with a double reed: the forerunner of the modern oboe.

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shawm British  

/ ʃɔːm /

noun

1. music a medieval form of the oboe with a conical bore and flaring bell, blown through a double reed

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Etymology

Origin of shawm

1300–50; Middle English schalme < Middle French chaume < Latin calamus stalk, reed < Greek kálamos reed; replacing Middle English schallemele < Middle French chalemel ( chalumeau )

Example Sentences

These, De Angelis concluded, were used to make lactogenic music until the shawm replaced the bagpipe.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

One special find: a shawm, the 16th century forerunner of the oboe.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moreover, fumed G.B.S., there was no such word as "shawm."

From Time Magazine Archive

The shawm was the earliest one of its kind ever discovered and had an extra hole for the thumb, giving it a wider musical range than later models.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler