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vox humana

American  
[voks hyoo-mey-nuh, -mah-, -man-uh] / ˈvɒks hyuˈmeɪ nə, -ˈmɑ-, -ˈmæn ə /

noun

  1. a pipe-organ stop designed to produce tones resembling those of the human voice.


vox humana British  
/ hjuːˈmɑːnə /

noun

  1. a reed stop on an organ supposedly imitative of the human voice

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of vox humana

First recorded in 1720–30, vox humana is from Latin vōx humāna “human voice”

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.

Among the hundreds of stops that organists use to imitate different instruments, there is one labeled vox humana or “human voice.”

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2016

The exhibition comes to us with the vox humana stop full out.

From Time Magazine Archive

By pulling and pushing little buttons, modern organists can produce tremulous vox humana, whooshing swell-effects, can make their gigantic instruments do everything but prance up & down the aisles.

From Time Magazine Archive

I'm a homely little bit of tin and bone; I'm beloved by the Legion of the Lost; I haven't got a "vox humana" tone, And a dime or two will satisfy my cost.

From Ballads of a Cheechako by Service, Robert W. (Robert William)

At length Harris challenged his redoubtable rival to make certain additional reed stops, vox humana, cremona, double bassoon and other stops, within a given time.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

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