shawm

English

A shawm

Etymology

From Middle English shalmuse, from Old French chalemel (modern French chalumeau), from Late Latin calamellus, from Latin calamus (“reed”), from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos). Doublet of caramel and chalumeau, as well as related to calame, calamus, culm, and haulm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɔːm/
• Rhymes: -ɔːm

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

shawm (plural shawms)

1. A mediaeval double-reed wind instrument with a conical wooden body.
   • 1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked:

     There are four flutes, a harp of twenty strings, a mournful shawm, and a number of drums of oxhide, some to be struck, others spanked.

Synonyms

• zurna

Derived terms

• Catalan shawm
• shawmist, shawmer
• still shawm

Translations

wind instrument

• Catalan: bombarda (ca) f
• Czech: šalmaj (cs) f
• Dutch: schalmei (nl) f
• Esperanto: ŝalmo
• Finnish: skalmeija
• French: chalemie (fr)
• German: Schalmei (de) f
• Greek: ζουρνάς (el) m (zournás)
• Ido: shalmo (io)
• Irish: seám m
• Italian: zufolo (it) m, cennamella (it) f
• Ottoman Turkish: زورنا (zurna)
• Polish: szałamaja (pl) f
• Spanish: caramillo (es)
• Swedish: skalmeja (sv) c
• Tagalog: karamilyo
• Turkish: zurna (tr)
• Welsh: chwythgorn m

Anagrams

• hawms, whams