sistrum

[sis-truhm]

noun

plural

sistrums, sistra 

1. an ancient Egyptian percussion instrument consisting of a looped metal frame set in a handle and fitted with loose crossbars that rattle when shaken.

sistrum

/ ˈsɪstrəm /

noun

1. a musical instrument of ancient Egypt consisting of a metal rattle

Word History and Origins

Origin of sistrum¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek seîstron, derivative of seíein to shake ( seismic )

Word History and Origins

Origin of sistrum¹

C14: via Latin from Greek seistron, from seiein to shake

Example Sentences

They were accompanied by a musical instrument known as a sistrum and a collection of bronze vessels used in rituals for the worship of the goddess Isis.

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You can’t hear the rattling of the ancient Egyptian sistrum at the Yale University Art Gallery’s exhibition “Sights and Sounds of Ancient Ritual,” but you can glimpse aspects of its religious power.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These pieces of art depict a variety of instruments, from the simple sistrum or sekhem - a hand-held, U-shaped shaken percussion instrument - to harps, ceremonial horns, flutes and wind instruments whose sound is made by blowing across strips of reed, the same technique that produces the sound of the modern oboe, bassoon and clarinet families.

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In the eighteenth century it was still furnished with metal rings, as was its forbear, the sistrum.

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The female principle, or sacred Sacti, is also represented by a figure like that called a sistrum, a Hebrew musical instrument, sometimes translated cornet.

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