Trombone
/trɑmˈboʊn/noun
A brass instrument with a sliding tube that changes pitch, or a low-pitched voice part in a musical ensemble.
Did you know?The word entered English from Italian trombone, an augmented form of tromba (“trumpet”), and the instrument’s sliding mechanism made it famous for glissandos that can sound almost supernatural.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*trom- / *tromb-?
“No secure PIE root is established for the modern word; the history begins in Romance Italian.”
Latin
Latin
tuba
“A straight trumpet or horn.”
Medieval / Early Italian
Italian
tromba
“Trumpet.”
16th Century
Italian
trombone
“Literally “large trumpet”; the name for the slide trumpet that became the trombone.”
16th–17th Century
French / English
trombone
“Borrowed term for the instrument, then established in English for the brass instrument with a slide.”