Bonang
/ˈboʊ.nɑːŋ/noun
A set of small, horizontally mounted knobbed gongs used as a melodic instrument in Javanese and Sundanese gamelan music.
Did you know?Bonang is a Javanese loanword whose deeper origin is uncertain, so claims that its name literally means a magical or spiritual force are folklore rather than established etymology.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-modern period
Javanese
bonang
“Name for a set of small, horizontally arranged knobbed gongs; the ultimate origin is uncertain.”
Pre-modern period
Sundanese
bonang
“A related term for the small gong-chime instrument used in Sundanese musical traditions.”
19th Century
Dutch
bonang
“Term recorded in European descriptions of Javanese gamelan instruments.”
Modern English
English
bonang
“A loanword for the Indonesian gong-chime instrument, especially in ethnomusicological writing.”