theorbo
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of theorbo
1595–1605; < Italian teorba, variant of tiorba, special use of Venetian tiorba, variant of tuorba traveling bag ≪ Turkish torba bag; so called from the bag it was carried in
Example Sentences
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Ms. Salvant’s 2023 release, “Mélusine,” included songs that dated back to the 12th century, sung in four languages, and made prominent use of the theorbo, the plucked lute used for Baroque basso continuo accompaniment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
A pair of harps, placed antiphonally in boxes at opposite sides of the stage, plus a theorbo, offer an otherworldly descant, as do the sounds of the celesta and chimes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
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
Radical as Grad’s introduction of the electric theorbo was, “Love Songs” used the instrument in a traditional way, to provide accompaniment for voice.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2017
Let us sing and be merry, dance, joke and rejoice, With claret and sherry, theorbo and voice!
From Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer A Romance of the Spanish Main by Crawford, Will
And it invariably had to go with old, not modern, instruments: recorders, valveless horns, theorbos, violins with gut strings and Baroque bows.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2012
The players are from Juilliard415, the school’s early-music group, complemented by guest artists on the Baroque harp and theorbos.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2010
The front of the stage is opened, and the band of twenty-four violins, with the harpsicals and theorbos which accompany the voices, are placed between the pit and the stage.
From Dryden's Works Vol. 3 (of 18) Sir Martin Mar-All; The Tempest; An Evening's Love; Tyrannic Love by Dryden, John
He seems to have made an expert and scientific study of it, and the reader hears continually the sound of lutes, harpsichords, violas, theorbos, virginals, and flageolets.
From Among Famous Books by Kelman, John
The front of the stage is opened, and the band of twenty-four violins with the harpsicals and theorbos which accompany the voices are placed between the pit and the stage.
From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Cook, Dutton
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.
