Skirl
/skɜːrl/noun
To make or play a shrill, piercing sound, especially on bagpipes.
Did you know?*Skirl* is an imitative Scottish word, and its sharp, spiraling sound helped make it perfect for the high, ritual-like cry of bagpipes in processions and war.
Etymological Timeline
Early Modern Scottish
Scots
skirl
“to shriek or make a piercing, wailing sound”
17th Century
Scots
skirl
“to sound or play shrilly, especially on a bagpipe”
Modern English
English
skirl
“to emit a shrill, high-pitched sound; especially of bagpipes”
Unknown earlier origin
Scots/imitative
skirl
“an expressive sound-symbolic formation, likely imitative of a shrill cry”